k wrote:
The factory is the first of its kind to produce electricity by combining wind power and hydrogen, a completely pollution-free method. On a good windy day, which Utsira has plenty of, where speeds average 10 metres [33ft] per second, the turbines can power the whole island. Any surplus is used to break water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. On days when the wind is weak, the stored hydrogen is used to produce electricity, either by burning it in a combustion engine or fusing it chemically with oxygen in a fuel cell, a kind of battery. The only by-product of the operation is water.
Cool! Totally infeasible for the domestic economy and administration, but cool nonetheless!
-janelane
[ Agreed. They're using hydrogen for what it's good for... being a very clean battery. What the rest of the world needs is a decent way to generate power cleanly... storing it hydrogen is gonna be totally doable within a few years. But how do we get it? -k]
Places like north korea should have these.
