A year ago I talked about how the University of Delaware was using chicken feathers for the storage of hydrogen gas. The researchers had discovered that the porous material in chicken feathers along with their light weight was a step up from using metal hydride tanks which are heavy or carbon nanotubes which are very expensive.
A year ago green websites and blogs were all over this story as this is the kind of invention that could move hydrogen technology forward by leaps and bounds. But the mainstream media at that time yawned at this idea, having more important things to talk about such whether the FDA will regulate salt content in food and did you see that meat dress that Lady Gaga was wearing?
No, it’s taken a year for the likes of PBS.org (which is in the process of being defunded by Congress for apparently daring to talk about green issues at all) and MSNBC to provide “breaking news” about the chicken feather storage invention by the University of Delaware.
Part of me says, “Better late than never” while another part says, “why does it take a breakthrough alt energy news story 1 year to get any love from a mainstream news outlet?” I guess it’s better late to the game than never. But, 1 year, seriously. C’mon man.
I designed a highly stable hydrogn delivery system suitable for vehicles and tanks but no one was interested 15 years ago. Maybe I should file that patent now as it is still feasible. It is amusingly simple, replentishing and safe.