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MY LATEST STORY OF HYDROGEN

I yesterday shared some depressing news showing a pathway for Donald Trump to regain the presidency.  Today, Trump revealed that he had on Sunday received an official letter from Jack Smith informing him he is a target of a grand jury probe into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.  The whole salami, from the January 6 Senate attack to influencing seven states to coerce extra votes after the election.  The Department of Justice has declined to comment.  

But all that omens poorly for The Donald, as this latest beginning could lead to his ultimate end.  Be prepared, though, for a roller coaster political ride through next year.  Mind you, even if Trump is convicted and incarcerated, he can still run for the presidency, and if some way can be found (meaning Trump money of a billion dollars) for someone like Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to run as a third-party candidate, Trump could well win and theoretically pardon himself out of jail to run the country from 2025.

Now onto nostalgic Tuesday.  I recently received an email from a colleague in Israel, Benny Ron, about a hydrogen solution that's actually completely green.

  • Ashton Kutcher is working with an Israeli startup in a game-changing effort to produce hydrogen.
  • Kutcher, a follower of the Jewish mystic tradition of Kabbalah, is married to Jewish actress Mila Kunis.  And, incidentally, Ukrainan President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the couple for raising almost $35 million to aid Ukrainian refugees.  
  • That article goes on to say that most of industrial hydrogen comes from fossil fuels.  
    • They admit that their product, and from other green hydrogen systems, currently costs five times more than from fossil fuels.  
  • Most clean hydrogen processes use simple electrolysis.
  • But the Israeli system utilizes nanoparticles radiated by sunlight to catalyze the separation of hydrogen from oxygen in water.
  • Concept was developed by Chief Scientist and Professor Lilac Amirav.
Over the past many decades, numerous researchers have sought my aid on developing a new and cheaper process to produce green hydrogen.  They ranged from thermochemical, electrolytic, biological and other ways.  All of them worked, but cost a lot more than steam methane reforming.  Turned out that for Hawaii, if there was sufficient geothermal energy, the cost of electricity could drop from 20 cents/kWh to 3 cents/kWh during the early hours of the morning.  At this price, hydrogen is close to being competitive with fossil fuels for fuel cell operation to power a vehicle.

Hydrogen has long been a passion of mine now for half a century.  Read my Story of Hydrogen.  To quote:

  • My interest in hydrogen spurred me (in 1974) to stop off first in Miami to attend the initial gather of Hydrogen Romantics, which led to the field journal and semi-annual World Hydrogen Energy Conference.  Nejat Veziroglu, who is now 97 years old, was the organizer.
  • In 1980, I found myself working in the U.S. Senate and recalled what I learned in Miami.  I was so inspired that I wrote the initial hydrogen legislation for the Senate, which led to the Matsunaga Hydrogen Act in 1989.
  • In 1990 I chaired the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Hawaii.      (The most recent occurred in Istanbul, Turkey in 2022, and the next one will be held in Cancun, Mexico next year.)
  • Soon thereafter I became chairman of the Secretary of Energy's Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel, which prepared The Green Hydrogen Energy Report, which served as the guide for a decade of Congressional hydrogen funding.  This led to selection of the Hawaii Natural Energy at the University of Hawaii to become a National Hydrogen Center for Education and Research.

The largest and oldest world gathering, the International Hydrogen Energy Conference, has been held every two years since 1976.   The first in Miami Beach because the organizer from the beginning was Nejat Veziroglu from the University of Miami.  

At one time WHEC was the only conference.  I can count 39 hydrogen-related conferences this year into 2024.  More specifically upcoming in 2023:

Next year, 2024:

One thing about my days with hydrogen.  I traveled a lot.

Did you know that every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday?  Started by Taco John 34 years ago to pick up a slow Mexican fast food day, Tuesday, they trademarked it.  Taco Bell filed a petition this past May with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to cancel the trademark because everyone should be freely able to make, sell, eat and celebrate such a common term.  Taco John said it didn't have the resources to fight the challenge, so now, anyone can enjoy a taco on Tuesdays.

This could have cost TJ CEO Jim Creel a million dollars to defend, so he instead donated $40,000 to the Children of Restaurant Employees, and challenged other tacos sellers to also do the right thing.

Now, Lucy and Linus can live every day like it's Taco Tuesday.

- 

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