One for Posterity

Two walks tonight. It stays light so late now - almost 10 O’clock before you can even call it dusk. On my second walk I took Sage over to Caprera. For those of you who don’t know, this is the large park on the edge of the dunes. It is heavily wooded and in the evenings is very quiet and peaceful. Usually, anytime after 8:00 PM we have the full 200+ acres to ourselves. We walk the lower loop then head up the hill to a bench overlooking the dunes and the North Sea to enjoy the sunset.

Tonight we ran into Baloo, a gigantic bloodhound and the only other dog that we’ve met in Holland that seems to have a stronger bond with it’s own nose than with his owner. We often see Baloo running in the park and never even see his owner. Baloo just does his own thing.

We met Baloo and his owner the first week that we were in Holland. He is the one who told us about Caprera in the first place and we found it a bit odd that he was stressing so much that the park was completely fenced….now we know why it was so important to him.

We’ve seen them many times since that first week and have often spoken with them in short pleasantries. We still don’t know his name (the person, not the dog of course), and never knew his occupation until this evening.

As I entered the park tonight I was expecting, and looking forward to, the normal solitude that this time of evening brings. Then I saw Baloo and his owner walking up the trail coming out of the darkening woods. A brief pleasantry I thought.

But as I got closer, I sensed that something was different about him tonight. He was unshaven and dark circles hung below his eyes. He looked exhausted, and yet he was beaming. Absolutely glowing with excitement. The “brief pleasantries” lasted only two sentences. He started his tale by justifying that he is now allowed to talk about “it” even though the press event and formal announcement isn’t until June. The patents are filed and technology has been proven. I think he just really needed to share his burden and felt safe handing it off to some American schmuck that he met in the dog park. I’m glad he did.

He had just returned from the Philippines. He’s spent a great deal of time there in the past six months. It seems that his company has discovered a way to convert water into hydrogen. On-demand. By the microgram.

Think about that for a minute. Hydrogen has been one of the most promising, environmentally benign fuel sources for the past 15 or more years. Why hasn’t it caught on yet? One main reason is because of it’s extreme volatility. Storing compressed hydrogen in the back of your car, or near a power plant has been logistically unfeasible. Add in the monopoly that the oil companies have on fuel distribution channels, the government’s lack of investment or interest in breaking that monopoly and you have a floundering, “future” technology.

Until now. With his process, all you have is a water tank. Hydrogen is converted and burned as it’s needed. Need to refill your car? Pour in a gallon of water.

If he’s right, and his enthusiasm indicated that he truly believed that he was, then this will be a discovery found in all future history books. Of course the initial splash won’t be so big. For example, it will not be available for cars right out of the gate. The process currently requires platinum, which is not exactly inexpensive enough for your average family’s Ford minivan. But it will be immediately available for power plants and industry. A power plant running on water. A steel mill or aluminum smelter running on hydrogen (water). The possibilities would impact the world and seem endless in their nature. An end to acid rain? An end to coal mining? An end to nuclear power plants?

Maybe I’m gullible. It’s like the fuel cell announcement 10 years ago, right?. Probably I’m gullible. But his enthusiasm was infectious and you know what? It’s nice to feel hopeful for a change. We’ll find out when they fire up the process in the Philippines on June 21. If it works, and it actually makes the mainstream press, you can say that you saw it here first – all from a guy who I met in a quiet little dog park in Bloemendaal, North Holland. Pretty cool.

If it doesn’t work, well…I guess that I’ll just have to go back and delete this post.

I just thought someone besides me should know.