A comprehensive comparison of fuel options for fuel cell vehicles in China

Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) offer the potential of ultra-low emissions combined with high efficiency. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells being developed for vehicles require hydrogen as a fuel. Due to the various pathways of hydrogen generation, both onboard and off-board, the question about which fuel option is the most competitive for fuel cell vehicles is of great current interest. In this paper, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) model was made to conduct a comprehensive study of the energy, environmental, and economic (3E) impacts of FCVs from well to wheel (WTW). In view of the special energy structure of China and the timeframe, 10 vehicle/fuel systems are chosen as the study projects. The results show that methanol is the most suitable fuel to serve as the ideal hydrogen source for fuel cell vehicles in the timeframe and geographic regions of this study. On the other hand, gasoline and pure hydrogen can also play a role in short-term and regional applications, especially for local demonstrations of FCV fleets. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Main Progress of Microgravity Sciences and Space Life Sciences Research in China

The progress of the research activities on space material sciences, microgravity ‰uid physics and combustion, space life sciences and biotechnology research, fundamental Physics in China are brie‰y summarized in the present paper. The major space missions and experimental results obtained on board the Chinese recoverable/non-recoverable satellites and the Chinese manned spaceship named ``Shen-Zhou'' are presented summarily. The recent main activities of the ground-based studies in China are introduced in brief.

Main Progress of Microgravity Sciences and Space Life Sciences Research in China

A laboratory study on risk assessment of microcystin-RR in cropland

The persistence time and risk of microcystin-RR (MC-RR) in cropland via irrigation were investigated under laboratory conditions. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the potential adsorption and biodegradation of MC-RR in cropland and the persistence time of MC-RR for crop irrigation, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify the amount of MC-RR in solutions. Our study indicated that MC-RR could be adsorbed and biodegraded in cropland soils. MC-RR at 6.5 mg/L could be completely degraded within 6 days with a lag phase of 1 - 2 days. In the presence of humic acid, the same amount of MC-RR could be degraded within 4 days without a lag phase. Accordingly, the persistence time of MC-RR in cropland soils should be about 6 days. This result also suggested the beneficial effects of the organic fertilizer utilization for the biodegradation of MC-RR in cropland soils. Our studies also demonstrated that MC-RR at low concentration (< 10 mu g/L) could accelerate the growth of plants, while high concentration of MC-RR (> 100 mu g/L) significantly inhibited the growth of plants. High sensitivity of the sprouting stage plants to MC-RR treatments as well as the strong inhibitory effects resulting from prolonged irrigation further indicated that this MC-RR growth-inhibition may vary with the duration of irrigation and life stage of the plants. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Population growth and physiological characteristics of microalgae in a miniaturized bioreactor during space flight

A strain of microalgae (Anabaena siamensis) had been cultured in a miniaturized bioreactor during a retrievable satellite flight for 15 days. By means of remote sensing equipment installed in the satellite, we gained the growth curve of microalgae population in space every day in real time. The curve indicated that the growth of microalgae in space was slower than the control on ground. Inoculation of the retrieved microalgae culture showed that the growth rate was distinctively higher than ground control. But after several generations, both cultures indicated similar growth rates. Those data showed that algae, can adapt to space environment easily which may be valuable for designing more complex bioreactor and controlled ecological life support system in future experiment. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.