The UD Alumni Relations Blog has a plan to save the world, and it all begins with the zero-emission flying car. Unfortunately that’s also where our plan ends as we know nothing about emissions, flying or cars and we have only a tenuous grasp on the concept of zero. Thankfully, University of Delaware researchers appreciate our genius and they are hard at word on the ‘zero-emission’ part of our grand idea.
An article in Wired reports that, UD researchers have discovered that chicken feathers will help storing hydrogen and creating a safe hydrogen gas tank. Apparently, storing hydrogen as takes up a lot more space than gasoline which makes hydrogen-powered cars impractical. From Wired.co.uk:
“Carbonised chicken feather fibres have the potential to dramatically improve upon existing methods of hydrogen storage and perhaps pave the way for the practical development of a truly hydrogen-based energy economy,” said Richard P. Wool, the university’s professor of chemical engineering.
Chicken feather fibres have a hollow, tube-like structure which, when heated, develops crosslinks that increase their porosity and surface area. That, Wool says, means these fibres can absorb at least as much hydrogen as carbon nanotubes or metal hydrides, two other materials being studied for their carbon-storage capabilities.
If Wool is correct, the price difference is startling. He says that a 20-gallon fuel tank built from carbon nanotubes would cost about $5.5 million, while a feather-based tank would add just $200 to the price of a car.
His research suggests that a 75-gallon tank with carbonised feathers would give a hydrogen-powered car a range of about 300 miles, but Wool is optimistic that they can improve on this figure.
Dr. Wool also noted that his team is working on using chicken feathers to create hurricane-resistant roofing, lightweight car parts and bio-based computer circuit boards.
With the zero-emissions part of our revolutionary idea (see above) complete, the UD Alumni Relations Blog is waiting for Dr. Wool and his team to figure out how to attach the excess chicken feathers on the side of cars in order to create wings, thus granting the world the zero-emission flying car.
The checks and prize money can be mailed to “UD Alumni Relations Blog,” thank you.
Chicken feathers ‘key to hydrogen cars’ [Wired.co.uk]
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | cars, chickens, engineering, feathers, flying car, hydrogen, saving the world, UD
