It's Time

It has been too long since my last post on hydrogen.  So much is starting to happen.

Those that know me well are aware that for the past few years I have focused my efforts on Improving Education, Computer Security, and Very High Performance Networking.  I will make a very brief report on each of these projects for the sake of continuity and then get to the big news about hydrogen.

Improving Education

For the past 13 years, my wonderful development team and I have been actively involved in developing Acellus, a computer based learning system that distinguishes itself from the others by how well it works.  Acellus utilizes a method we call Deficiency Diagnostics to identify the missing pieces in each student's knowledge of a subject, and Customized Personal Instruction to help students regain their confidence in learning and to catch up.

Acellus has been wildly successful.  Working in conjunction with the International Academy of Science, we now have Acellus in schools from coast to coast where it is making a measurable impact on the number of students graduating each year.  Anyone wishing to get the latest news on Acellus can visit science.edu or Acellus.com.  If you know someone that may wish to enroll in Acellus Courses, please check out Grand River Schools.

Computer Security

We have incredible news to report regarding the progress of GoldKey Security Corporation (goldkey.com).  Our goal was to develop an alternative computer security solution that could be relied upon by business and government to protect critical resources.  The resulting Gold Security technology is the subject of three new patents pending, and is already in use by customers from 40 countries around the world.  My son, John Billings, and I are the co-inventors of this new approach to computer security.  It appears that, in the next few years, there will develop a critical demand for something better to protect society from the ever increasing cyber-attacks.  Gold Security offers a robust solution that has already proven itself in many critical applications and environments. 

Very High Performance Networking

One of my major commitments for the past few years was the development of very high performance computer networking technology.  Our research resulted in several patents regarding nano-latency networking, which eventually resulted in a development contract from the US Army for the development of the next generation networking technology.  As the Principal Investigator on the Army contract, I have been involved in developing a new 100 Gbps network switch based on our nano-latency patents.  I am pleased to report that the custom silicone chip is in testing and next week will be installed onto the printed circuit board in preparation for our April delivery deadline to the Army.  This has been a challenging project, since it has pushed the very edge of technology, positioning WideBand Corporation for the future.  (More information can be found at wband.com.)

With the other projects staffed and moving forward, it is now time to return my focus to hydrogen energy.

Mission Hydrogen

Some of the big news this week has been about the regulations coming out of the EPA regarding CO2 emissions from coal burning power plants.  While not everyone can agree on just how serious the consequences are of emitting so much CO2 into the environment, the regulators are moving to make restrictions.  Of course, the key to making those regulations effective is going to be how well we can come up with other, better solutions.

In my book, “Hydrogen World View,” I came to the conclusion back in the year 2000 that the only commercially viable way to produce the enormous quantities of hydrogen that will be needed is to gasify coal.  Now, just 13 years later, this is no longer my “hydrogen world view.”  The whole energy landscape has changed.  Fuel is more expensive than before.  Even more important, other alternatives have developed to the point of being ready for commercialization, including graphene-based solar collectors like those announced recently by Stanford University, the emergence of abundant natural gas, and, most important from my point of view, my latest patent application, which was filed just last week on a new way to generate large quantities of electricity efficiently from hydrogen.

This patent is based on a new technology which appears to be superior to the hydrogen fuel cells that I have been running in a vehicle since 1991.  I am expecting four more related patent applications in upcoming months.  From my point of view, this represents a major breakthrough of a commercially viable technology that I have been working on “on the side” for years.

In November of 2015, it will be my 50^th anniversary since I ran the first car on hydrogen back in 1965.  Whether in the energy or the computer industry, my long suit has always been moving new technologies from the breakthrough in the lab to commercialization.  For so many years I have held the dream that hydrogen would one day have a major impact on this world and our quality of life.  At long last I see the dream beginning to emerge.

In the next few weeks I will be meeting with my most trusted associates to put together a framework on how to proceed with making this all happen.  One thing is for certain, looking at world conditions and the need for something better, the way this needs to happen is “right now.”