The automobile industry is targeting the development of emissions-free fuel cells for vehicles amid the rise of environmental awareness, an official at DaimlerChrysler AG said yesterday.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device that converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process produces electricity.
"Sustainable mobility is a fundamental human need, and thus, pollution-free technology is a way toward a secure future in terms of energy supply," said Christian Klein, DaimlerChrysler's project coordinator in Asia for Fuel Cell & Alternative Powertrain Vehicles.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER
Klein made the remark yesterday as the US-German carmaker showcased a prototype of its fuel-cell Mercedes-Benz A-Class in Taipei. A fleet of fuel-cell-powered vehicles is currently undergoing road tests in various countries.
To cut oil dependence and pollution, both Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co are producing gas-electric hybrid vehicles, while Hyundai Motor Co and the US' "Big Three" automakers, as well as some energy companies are developing hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles before mass-producing the vehicles within the next 15 years.
Klein said DaimlerChrysler has put over 100 fuel-cell vehicles, including the A-Class and bus models, to road tests throughout Europe, Australia and Japan in recent years.
The company plans to invest in 1 billion euros (US$1.29 billion) to
mass-produce next-generation fuel-cell cars, which Jess Liu (劉秀盈), public
relations director at DaimlerChrysler Taiwan Ltd, said may be on the market
by 2012.
The fuel-cell tanks of A-Class models supply 350 pounds of compressed
hydrogen directly to the fuel cell system, giving the car a range of about
150km. Hydrogen consumption is equivalent to 4.2 liters of diesel fuel per
100km. Its top speed is around 140kph.
Though working prototypes show spectacular advances in fuel-cell engines,
the industry is facing a much higher production cost than what is now used
in today's gas or diesel-powered engine.
In addition, automakers are also encountering infrastructure problems such
as the storage and distribution of hydrogen, as well as the establishment of
vehicle maintenance workshops, Klein said.
“[The technology] still has a long way to go,” he added.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained