The Next Great Petroleum Alternative: New Hydrogen Energy Generation Technology Solves Efficiency and Cost Barriers

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Japan-based FUKAI Environmental Research Institute, Inc. invites the press for a public demo of its innovative technology that generates hydrogen energy at the world's lowest cost - and may hold the key to future alternatives to petroleum-derived fuel in both industry and households.  

This newly developed technology generates hydrogen by adding aluminum or magnesium to what is known as "functional water" in the boiling state. The amount of hydrogen generated is 2.0L per 1g of aluminum or 3.3L per 1g of magnesium.

Thanks to this technology, it is possible to generate the amount of hydrogen required to generate 1kWh of electricity for a cost of merely 18 cents or so, the world's lowest cost.  

Conventional hydrogen-generating technologies are based on steam reformation processes, electrolytic processes or photocatalytic processes, each of which have efficiency and/or cost problems. (For details, please see the company home page: http://www.fukaisouken.jp/en/.) In order to generate hydrogen, it is necessary to dissociate the bonding of hydrogen molecules from other molecules. Given the strength of the bond, conventional processes have encountered major difficulties, since dissociation requires high energy, which results in high costs.

The technology recently developed by FUKAI Environmental Research Institute, Inc. has overcome these problems. By simply adding aluminum to the functional water, the new technology allows FUKAI to generate hydrogen with minimal energy cost.

The reason for the high rate of hydrogen production lies in FUKAI's proprietary functional water: its functional water is in the state ready to generate hydrogen. By reacting with aluminum or magnesium it begins to generate large amounts of hydrogen.

Furthermore, the functional water itself can be produced by simply letting city water pass through a "functional water generation unit," which contains natural minerals. This also eliminates the need for additional energy costs.

Mr. Toshiharu Fukai, the developer of this new technology and the Representative Director of FUKAI Environmental Research Institute, Inc., remarks: "If we make the most of this technology, in the future it will be possible to run automobiles using water only - no need to use gasoline or electricity. In the future, water is bound to become a vital energy resource replacing petroleum-derived fuel. We are also pushing forward with technology that will allow us to generate hydrogen with zero cost. If we succeed in this development, even ordinary households will be able to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen-based power generation at home will no longer be a dream."

For a list of persons available to meet the press on Oct. 25, please see:

http://www.ereleases.com/pic/FUKAI-Oct-25-2010-press-rev.pdf

"Aluminum (powder) is mixed into functional water =>

Generated hydrogen catches fire when ignited"

As of Oct. 10th, a visual record of this experiment can be viewed in English, Spanish and Korean at the following website: http://www.hydrogen-energy.jp/

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE FUKAI Environmental Research Institute, Inc.