"Honda set to release hydrogen fuel cell car – and home fuelling station"

Honda's FCX Clarity and Home Energy Station IV
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November 22, 2007 It seems Honda is gearing up to be the one of the first major companies to bring a hydrogen fuel cell car to market – their FCX Clarity is set to go to production in 2008, in a move they’re hoping will break the catch-22 dilemma stopping motor companies from producing cars because there’s no hydrogen distribution, and stopping fuel companies from distributing hydrogen because there’s no cars that use it. To nurse consumers through the infancy of the hydrogen economy, Honda’s also attempting to decentralize the production of hydrogen through their Home Energy Station unit, which sits outside your house and reforms natural gas to produce enough Hydrogen to power both the car and the home’s energy needs at around 50% of the normal cost and with a 30% emissions reduction.

Honda set to release hydrogen fuel cell car – and home fuelling station
Home Energy Station IV
Honda's FCX Clarity
Solar-generated hydrogen refuelling station
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Honda FCX Clarity

Honda recently announced it will begin limited retail marketing of its FCX Clarity, a 100-kilowatt (150 hp) hydrogen fuel-cell powered compact car, in the middle of 2008. Initially it will be available only in California, but Honda clearly has plans to mass-market the FCX in the medium term if it proves viable.

The FCX Clarity is a zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on the entirely-new Honda V Flow fuel cell platform, and powered by a compact, efficient and powerful fuel cell stack. Featuring impressive improvements to driving range, power, weight and efficiency, the FCX Clarity is Honda’s real-world fuel cell flagship.

The FCX uses an electric motor, which is a much more energy efficient use of the Hydrogen than in a regular combustion engine. Hydrogen combines with atmospheric oxygen in the fuel cell stack, where chemical energy from the reaction is converted into electric power used to propel the vehicle. Additional energy captured through regenerative braking and deceleration is stored in a lithium ion battery pack, and used to supplement power from the fuel cell, when needed. The vehicle's only emission is water.

The FCX clarity boasts a number of improvements over the current FCX prototype, including:

- a 20-percent increase in fuel economy - to the approximate equivalent of 68 mpg2 combined fuel economy (about 2-3 times the fuel economy of a gasoline-powered car, and 1.5 times that of a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle, of comparable size and performance);

- a 30-percent increase in vehicle range - to 270 miles;

- a 25-percent improvement in power-to-weight ratio, in part from an approximate 400-pound reduction in the fuel cell powertrain weight, for superior performance and efficiency despite a substantial increase in overall vehicle size;

- a 45-percent reduction in the size of the fuel cell powertrain - nearly equivalent, in terms of volume, to a modern gas-electric hybrid powertrain;

- an advanced new lithium-ion battery pack that is 40 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller than the current-generation FCX's ultra-capacitor; and

- a single 5,000-psi hydrogen storage tank with 10 percent additional hydrogen capacity than the previous model.

Full details will be set closer to launch, but current plans call for a three-year lease term with a price of $600 per month, including maintenance and collision insurance. American Honda is also developing a service infrastructure that provides customers with the best balance of convenience and the highest quality of service. When the FCX Clarity requires periodic maintenance, customers will simply schedule a visit with their local Honda dealer. American Honda will transport the vehicle to their fuel cell service facility, located in the greater Los Angeles area, where all required work will be performed. At the completion of the work, the customer will pick up their car from the dealer.

Honda Home Energy Station IV

Of course, while California’s Hydrogen Highway is a leading initiative in developing a hydrogen distribution infrastructure, fuel supply will still be a huge issue for the first generation of FCX owners. To ease this transition for early adopters, Honda decided to build a home-based hydrogen generation and fueling device – which has evolved into an energy-saving power station for the whole home.

Running on a home’s existing natural gas supply, the Home Energy Station IV produces and stores hydrogen, while providing heat, hot water and electricity to an average-size home.

The Home Energy Station IV can reduce both cost and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the consumer. Compared to the average U.S. consumer's home with grid-supplied electricity and a gasoline-powered car, a home using Home Energy Station IV to help produce heat and electricity and also to refuel an FCX Clarity can reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 30 percent and energy costs by an estimated 50 percent.

"Honda is striving to address the need for a refueling infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles," said Ben Knight, vice president of Honda R&D Americas. "The Home Energy Station represents one promising solution to this issue, while offering the added benefit of heating and powering the home more efficiently."

The natural gas is reformed to produce hydrogen, which is then run directly through to a fuel cell stack to generate electricity for the home and enough heat to run the hot water supply. When immediate consumption is not needed, the hydrogen is refined, compressed and stored in a large tank for later use, or to fill a hydrogen car like the FCX Clarity.

Storage in the Home Energy Station IV is a maximum of 132 liters, which it fills at a rate of 2 normal cubic meters per hour.

Even though the fourth generation unit is about 70% smaller than Honda’s first home Energy Station prototype, it’s still quite large, requiring a decent chunk of front yard to set up. There’s no figures available on kilowatt output for powering the home, and Honda are yet to release details of when it plans to bring the unit to market – but its synergistic launch with the FCX Clarity shows Honda see the Home Energy Station as a partner device to the FCX.

"luxury car makers now going green by makig hybrid ecoriendly cars now even american luxury car company cadillac anounces hybrid esclade SUV"

he Union of Concerned Scientists has released its annual Hybrid Scorecard for 2011. The group found that the auto industry often wastes the fuel-saving potential of gas-electric technology, delivering paltry fuel economy gains and pricing the cars out of the reach of most consumers. The best-scoring hybrid by far was the Toyota Prius, which tallied an environmental improvement score of 9.2, with second and third place going to the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Honda Civic Hybrid, receiving a 7.8 and 7.4, respectively.

“It’s not just the Toyota Prius and everyone else anymore,” said the study's author, Don Anair, in a press release. “Automakers from Ford to Hyundai and Honda to Nissan are using hybrid technology to boost fuel economy and cut pollution without breaking the bank for consumers.”

Still, the group found that most hybrids fail to live up to their potential. Though nine of the top ten hybrid models offer fuel economy of greater than 30 mpg and score better than average on the report card, many gas-electrics are far from being a good value proposition—regardless of how a consumer weighs fuel or emissions savings. “Automakers are still producing hybrids that fail to deliver on the technology’s potential to dramatically improve fuel economy,” said Anair.

The two areas where luxury and light-duty hybrids in particular seemed to fail were improved fuel economy and price premium, which the UCS says is often created when carmakers force hybrid buyers to pay for features that don't come standard on non-hybrid base model equivalents. In the case of some vehicles, this can add thousands of extra dollars to the price of a car.

The UCS also criticized automakers for dedicating too much of the supplemental electric motor boost offered in hybrids to improved performance, and not enough to decreasing the workload of the gasoline engine. Some of the lower-scoring hybrids in the study achieve fuel economy gains of just 2 mpg compared to conventional models.

Overall, the group says that hybrid options have improved for car buyers—particularly among the best-selling models. Automakers seem to be listening to consumer calls for maximized fuel economy at as little added cost as possible, but the change continues to be gradual.

Rare gibbon (monkey) community found in Vietnam

The largest population of a "critically-endangered" gibbon species has been discovered in Vietnam, according to a leading conservation group.

A new census of the northern white-cheeked crested gibbon by Conservation International (CI) scientists has found a population of 455 -- living in 130 groups -- in Pu Mat National Park, in the north of the country.

The discovery represents over two-thirds of the total number of the species left in Vietnam, and is the "only confirmed viable-population of this species left worldwide," according to CI.

Russell A. Mittermeier, president of Conservation International says all of the world's 25 different gibbon species are under threat from extinction, but none more so than the white-cheeked gibbon.
The major issue will be hunting of these gibbons that were previously protected by the harsh terrain
--Luu Tuong Bach, primatologist

"This is an extraordinarily significant find, and underscores the immense importance of protected areas in providing the last refuges for the region's decimated wildlife," Mittermeier said in a statement.

Population data was collected using "auditory surveying" -- a technique which uses the species' loud morning calls -- for identification and to determine group numbers, CI says.

But the remote, high-altitude forests which have fostered the gibbons thus far is under threat from road development which will not only cut through their habitat but also encourage further dangers, say conservationists.

"The major issue will be hunting of these gibbons that were previously protected by the harsh terrain," primatologist Luu Tuong Bach, who led field surveys.

"Without direct protection in Pu Mat National Park, it is likely that Vietnam will lose this species in near future," he added.

Useful information related to Aids

What is AIDS? What causes AIDS?

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

An HIV-positive person receives an AIDS diagnosis after developing one of the CDC-defined AIDS indicator illnesses. An HIV-positive person can also receive an AIDS diagnosis on the basis of certain blood tests (CD4 counts) and may not have experienced any serious illnesses. A positive HIV test does not mean that a person has AIDS. A diagnosis of AIDS is made by a physician according to the CDC AIDS Case Definition.

Over time, infection with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) can weaken the immune system to the point that the system has difficulty fighting off certain infections. These types of infections are known as opportunistic infections. Many of the infections that cause problems or that can be life-threatening for people with AIDS are usually controlled by a healthy immune system. The immune system of a person with AIDS has weakened to the point that medical intervention may be necessary to prevent or treat serious illness.

What is the Difference Between HIV and AIDS?

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

H - Human: because this virus can only infect human beings.

I- Immuno-deficiency: because the effect of the virus is to create a deficiency, a failure to work properly, within the body's immune system.

V- Virus: because this organism is a virus, which means one of its characteristics is that it is incapable of reproducing by itself. It reproduces by taking over the machinery of the human cell.

A- Acquired: because it's a condition one must acquire or get infected with; not something transmitted through the genes

I- Immune: because it affects the body's immune system, the part of the body which usually works to fight off germs such as bacteria and viruses

D- Deficiency: because it makes the immune system deficient (makes it not work properly)

S- Syndrome: because someone with AIDS may experience a wide range of different diseases and opportunistic infections

How long does it take for HIV to cause AIDS?

Currently, the average time between HIV infection and the appearance of signs that could lead to an AIDS diagnosis is 8-11 years. This time varies greatly from person to person and can depend on many factors including a person's health status and behaviors. Today there are medical treatments that can slow down the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system. There are other treatments that can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with AIDS. As with other diseases, early detection offers more options for treatment and preventative health care.

What's the connection between HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases?

Having a sexually transmitted disease (STD) can increase a person's risk of becoming infected with HIV, whether or not that STD causes lesions or breaks in the skin. If the STD infection causes irritation of the skin, breaks or sores may make it easier for HIV to enter the body during sexual contact. Even an STD that causes no breaks or sores can stimulate an immune response in the genital area that can make HIV transmission more likely.

Where did HIV come from?

The most recent presentation on the origin of HIV was presented at the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunitistic Infections (Chicago, January 1999). At that conference, research was presented that suggested that HIV had "crossed over" into the human population from a particular species of chimpanzee, probably through blood contact that occurred during hunting and field dressing of the animals. The CDC states that the findings presented at this conference provide the strongest evidence to date that HIV-1 originated in non-human primates. The research findings were featured in the February 4,1999 issue of the journal, Nature.

We know that the virus has existed in the United States, Haiti and Africa since at least 1977-1978. In 1979, rare types of pneumonia, cancer and other illnesses were being reported by doctors in Los Angeles and New York. The common thread was that these conditions were not usually found in persons with healthy immune systems.

In 1982 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially named the condition AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In 1984 the virus responsible for weakening the immune system was identified as HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

How many people have HIV and AIDS?

Worldwide: UNAIDS estimates that as of December 2000, there were an estimated 36.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS (34.7 million adults and 1.4 million children under 15). Since the epidemic began, an estimated 21.8 million people have died of AIDS (17.5 million adults and 4.3 million children under 15).

An estimated 5.3 million new HIV infections occurred in 2000. During 2000, HIV- and AIDS-associated illnesses caused deaths of an estimated 3 million people, including 500,000 children under the age of 15.

In the United States: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are between 800,000 and 900,000 people living with HIV. Through December 2000, a total of 774,467 cases of AIDS have been reported to the CDC; of this number, 448,060 persons (representing 58% of cases) have died.

The Ferrari Story

Source - aids.org

Labels: aids, HIV, UNAIDS

posted by S @ 1:28 AM 44 comments

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Cipla launches new anti-HIV drug Viraday

Pharma major Cipla today (12/10/06) launched its fixed dose single pill anti-HIV drug Viraday priced at Rs 5,200 a month.

Viraday is a combination of three anti-HIV drugs - Efavirenz 600 mg, Tenofovir 300 mg and Emtricitabine 200 mg, a company official said in New Delhi.

"We are offering the drug at Rs 5,200 a month, which is a fraction of the international price of approximately $1,100 (about Rs 52,800 a month)," he said.

While the company is introducing this drug in India for the first time, it is also looking at export opportunity, especially in Africa, the official said.