First it was hydrogen fuel-cells, then ethanol-powered cars, then plug-ins.
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In his 50-year career, Ovshinsky received more than 400 patents in the U.S. and more than 800 foreign patents covering a range of technologies, including nickel-metal hydride batteries, rewritable CDs, DVD optical discs, flat-screen liquid crystal displays, hydrogen fuel cells, thin-film solar cells and others.
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The heat is supplied by sources that range from waste-to-energy facilities and biomass boilers to micro-CHP fuel cells and solar-thermal arrays.
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But with so much competition from abroad, and with so many competing future powertrain technologies out there--electric hybrids, clean diesels and hydrogen fuel cells--companies can't afford to go it alone, says David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
And while there are already prototypes of much more efficient cars on the road -- such as those using natural gas, electricity, hydrogen fuel cells -- they may only be a baby step toward the future.
In January GM (nyse: GM - news - people ) contracted to sell the Army a fleet of trucks powered by next-generation power plants like fuel cells and diesel-electric hybrids.
Mike Brown, an executive with UTC Power, a leading fuel-cell maker, said the fuel cells need to last at least four or five years for the technology to be competitive.
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For example, the US Department of Defense has a major program in methanol-based fuel cells.
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They found some papers on coal-fired fuel cells but decided they probably wouldn't work.
Another senior executive in charge of power-generation fuel cells has a background in American utilities.
But solid-oxide fuel cells are hardier and offer far more punch because they can use denser hydrocarbons as fuel.
As an example, Pell pointed to platinum, a valuable commodity which is a critical part of catalytic converters for cars as well as clean-tech fuel cells.
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Yozo Kami, Honda's fuel cell chief, promises to solve all of fuel cell vehicles' technical problems by 2012 and to have the cost of fuel cells at "Accord-level" by 2020.
The energy stored in xylose splits water molecules, yielding high-purity hydrogen that can be directly utilized by proton-exchange membrane fuel cells.
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Natural gas-fueled micro-cogeneration and fuel cells are just starting to proliferate.
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Contrary to what many people may expect, most of these technologies, which include microturbines, fuel cells and high-efficiency cogeneration, rely on fossil fuels rather than renewable-energy resources like wind or solar energy.
From wind and solar, to waste and biomass to energy, fuel cells, co-generation, natural gas, and smart grid, speakers and attendees discussed a diverse portfolio of advanced energy technologies that are being developed and deployed in Ohio.
Next year, Daimler will demonstrate Ballard's fuel cells in 60 Mercedes-Benz automobiles.
On a larger scale, stationary fuel cells are providing back-up power for hospitals, military bases, banks, and telecoms (especially to keep cell towers online).
Like fuel cells, another 19th-century invention that promised more than it delivered, the Stirling engine has been a device in search of an application.
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Third, if Toyota's scientists win the race for either fuel cells or hybrid vehicles--races they're on the way to winning--they could establish the de facto standard for these new vehicles.
This country has an estimated 220 gigawatts of what you might call amateur power: emergency generators, industrial fuel cells and other user-owned power plants, compared with 1, 000 or so gigawatts of central station capacity.
Eligible improvements (PDF) include not only energy-saving equipment such as insulation, lighting, and HVAC systems but onsite renewable energy (rooftop PV, wind turbines, and fuel cells) and water-saving upgrades such as low-flow plumbing fixtures and grey water systems.
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Daimler Benz (which already produces an advanced fuel-cell car) recently bought 27% of Ballard, a maker of fuel cells.
The concept that stem cells run-amok may fuel cancer's spread was first proposed in the 1960s.
Micropower technologies, ranging from fuel cells to microturbines to small natural-gas plants, are taking off.
Engineers put the vehicle's guts in an 11-inch-thick platform that contains the fuel cells, electric motors, brakes, suspension and hydrogen storage.
It is also researching fuel cells as an alternative to internal-combustion engines.
Multi-junction solar cells say, fuel cells or, possibly, new aluminium alloys for windmill blades so they can work in higher speed winds.
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