Ann: Quarterly Activities Report , page-2

Just doing some thinking on carbon nanotubes being the driver for ‘cheap production of hydrogen for bus projects’.

EDE’s TOTAL current production capacity of nanotubes is ‘up to’ 40 tonnes per year. Problem is it can’t seem to sell any of the stuff yet (“small scale sales are occurring”) Wider scale markets for nanotubes MAY happen in 2 to 3 years. So no cheap hydrogen for 3 or 4 years plus.

Let’s put the current capacity in perspective:
EDE’s hydrogen production is 33.33% (by weight) of the carbon production, which works out at current production capacity of ‘up to’ 13 tonnes of hydrogen per year. Sounds ok, but that is actually just 13,000 kilograms. The average transit bus uses (according to a bit of googling) around 10-12000 litres of diesel per year (which weighs about 7200 kg- it’s lighter than water).

Kilo for kilo Hydrogen has about a third of the energy of diesel- so EDE’s production capacity is equivalent very roughly to 5000kg of diesel. That is a little LESS THAN ONE busy bus per year.

To have any hope of supplying a decent Indian bus contract (Delhi has 8000 buses so let’s go for 25% of those) say 2000 buses, and if EDE pyrolysis is used as a supply source for the hydrogen then EDE might have to churn out 70 or 80,000 tonnes of nanotubes per year. What are they going to do with that mountain of soot?? That’s just for one bus contract! Sorry but I reckon it strains credibility and the whole thing doesn’t stack up.

By the way, there’s something curious about the Quarterly- it says ‘Production capabilities enable Eden it to produce up to 40 tonnes of nanocarbon per year. Yet the last annual report says: “Following the initial scale ups in the US, Hythane Company then, during the year, commissioned and successfully trialled two prototype commercial scale production units which can produce up to a maximum of 100 tonnes of carbon nanofibers per year together with up to 33 tonnes of hydrogen at full production. The first up-scaled reactor was commissioned in August 2011 and the second larger reactor, was commissioned during the last quarter of 2011.” What is the real production capability???

(Non-holder but follower for some years. Not meant as a downramp as such just some observations- DYOR!! I may be wrong))