There are good bacteria and bad bacteria in a waste-water plant. The good bugs can generate lots of hydrogen that can be captured and used to power fuel-cell vehicles or generate electricity. But the bad bugs like to pig out on the hydrogen, so very little would be left over for the FCX or Sequel when they go into production (click those links to read AutoblogGreen's drive reports). Killing the bad bugs isn't difficult but does require heat generated by an expensive, energy-intensive process. Luckily, a pair of scientists from the University of Toronto don't like the bad bugs. They discovered that dried sludge pellets mixed in with the primary sludge helps kill off the bad microbes and generate hydrogen. If the process can be perfected and easily applied to waste-water plants, municipalities could produce electricity for the grid in addition to managing solid waste, or the hydrogen could be stored for use in fuel-cell vehicles.

[Source: Tyler Hamilton / Toronto Star]

The University of Toronto's Blue Sky Solar Racing program began in 1997. Now with over 100 student members, they're in the process of developing their third solar race car which should be ready for the 2007 World Solar Challenge. For Ecofest 2006, they brought their 2nd generation vehicle which is dubbed Faust II.

The Faust II is a single-seat solar race vehicle capable of reaching a top speed of 75 mph. The silicon-based solar cell array is able to generate 1000 watts with 19 percent efficiency. The powerplant driving the rear wheel is an NGM DC brushless electric motor which produces 5kW (about 6.7 hp). The shell is made from carbon fiber and Kevlar and is attached to a tubular aluminum frame. The overall weight of the car is roughly 450 pounds.

Representatives for the program were graduate students Branko Daljevic and Amy Bilton as well as the managing director, Andreas Marouchos.

Andreas feels that the solar race car project is a good way of educating the public and promote alternative-fuel vehicles. He said that he believes the technology to power our cars on different sources of electricity exists for the real world. The problem we face right now is getting the government and public to accept these technologies because the major car companies will build what the public wants. He also keenly noted that the first solar cars began to appear in the 1970s, "astonishingly close to the first oil crisis." Andreas has been with the project since 2001.

More information about the Blue Sky Solar Racing Program can be found at their website.

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