Technology Briefs - Aug. 24 - Aug. 30
The Latest Headlines:
- UPS Launches Fuel Cells in Delivery Vans
- N.C. Launches '511' Information Service
- S.D. to Install Electronic Signs on Highways
- Company Wants to Build Plant to Convert Coal to Diesel
- N.C. Launches '511' Information Service
UPS Launches Fuel Cells in Delivery Vans
Package-delivery firm UPS Inc. said Aug. 26 it would use hydrogen fuel cells for the first time to power three medium-duty delivery vans.UPS is the top carrier on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.
Fuel cells convert chemical energy — in this case hydrogen reacting with oxygen — into electricity without combustion, with water vapor and heat as the only byproducts.
UPS said the fuel-cell-powered trucks were Dodge Sprinter vans from Freightliner LLC. Roger Gilroy
N.C. Launches '511' Information Service
The Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday that drivers in North Carolina could obtain local road and traffic conditions by dialing 5-1-1.The system would allow callers to gather up-to-the-minute information about traffic jams, road construction and alternative routes in and around the state, FHWA said in a release. Twenty-one other 511 systems are currently running throughout the United States.
North Carolina's service also would provide the train and ferry information, FHWA said. Transport Topics
S.D. to Install Electronic Signs on Highways
New electronic signs were expected to be installed along South Dakota’s interstate highways in the coming months, the Associated Press reported.The dynamic message signs would let drivers know about closed roadways, detours, weather conditions and smoky forest fires, said Leon Schochenmaier of the state's Department of Transportation.
Schochenmaier said workers would install 22 signs along interstates 29 and 90 to add to the eight already in place, AP reported. Transport Topics
Company Wants to Build Plant to Convert Coal to Diesel
A Texas energy company has proposed a plan to build a $2.75 billion plant to convert coal into diesel fuel, electricity and other products, the Associated Press reported.DKRW Energy, which is based in Houston, said it planned to open a coal gasification and liquefaction facility on the Medicine Bow River Ranch by 2008, AP said.
The plant would use technology not yet in commercial use in the United States to create "ultra-clean" diesel fuel, other fuel products and electricity for western markets, DKRW partner Bob Kelly told the Carbon Country Commission Aug. 10.
The plant would use about 6 million tons of coal a year and would create 1,000 megawatts of electricity. It would also create 300 million cubic feet of synthetic natural gas, some of which would be used in the production of diesel fuel. Transport Topics
