Alternate Energy Corporation Product in YYYY?

The latest press release describes their running a small engine. A couple of statements stand out.

The purpose of the demonstration was to provide a complete overview of the unit's functionality while showcasing some of its key benefits, including portability, safety and environmentally friendly by-products.

The by-product of their process is metal oxides soaked in caustic liquid. What is it they do at their demonstration to show that stuff is safe? I'm not saying it's dangerous. But how do they demonstrate that?

Also their boilerplate now includes the claim that they "shipping initial hydrogen production and electricity generation systems later in 2005". Ah, so that's when they plan to have a product. Their FAQ has been answering the question:
2) To whom will you be selling the product and when?

2003-11 AEC intends to sell a combined product (our hydrogen production unit and a carefully selected, third-party fuel cell), through one or a number of major organizations being considered to the home owner and commercial power and government markets. AEC acknowledges the numerous large-scale market application opportunities for low-cost hydrogen, but has chosen to focus on the alternative energy sector pursuant to its corporate mandate / mission statement.

Though much is contingent on funding and/or the securing of suitable manufacturer/distributor alliances, marketing and manufacturing plans are currently being developed for AEC to have its hydrogen production technology deployed with various partners within one year (2004).

2004-06 Ditto.

2004-11 and later AEC intends to sell a combined product (our hydrogen production unit and third-party fuel cell or internal combustion engine/generator), to a wide spectrum of major organizations in the industrial, commercial, residential, utility and government markets.

So, as late as a year ago, Alternative energy corporation was claiming they would have a product last year. And now, their FAQ simply doesn't answer the "when will you have a product" question.

Alternate Energy Corporation FAQ Backtrack #1

The Internet Wayback is a great tool for tracking moving targets. Let's compare the Alternate Energy Corporation FAQ from 2003-Nov, 2004-Jun, 2004-Nov, and now.

1) Why is AEC’s hydrogen production technology unique? How is it more viable than other forms of hydrogen production?

2003-Nov It has been stated by leading industry experts that the hydrogen economy will not become reality until two important developments occur;
a) A reduction in the selling price of a reliable fuel cell, and
b) The availability of low-cost hydrogen.

Many fuel cell prices have started to descend, but are still considered to be too high for mass appeal. In addition, what is not included in these prices is the operating cost, which can include the replacement of very expensive membranes (i.e. PEM). The PEM fuel cell’s current cost includes the precious metal platinum, which currently represents approximately 30% of the cost of the cell. Therefore, any saving in cost is over-shadowed by the cost of the platinum, the result being an expensive fuel cell.

AEC’s affordable, on-demand Hydrogen production technology provides the solution to item b) above.

The least expensive hydrogen is currently derived from the reformation of fossil fuels such as natural gas, costing approximately $0.10 to $0.12 per kw (emphasis added) Check the units. What's 12 cents per kW mean?. Current cost estimates indicate that AEC can produce hydrogen at a significantly lower cost and realize a strong profit even with selling it at a very competitive price. For business reasons AEC has not announced their cost of producing hydrogen nor the selling price

This will mean a potential savings to those that use hydrogen for any number of retail and small commercial applications. For those considering the purchase and use of fuel cells for alternative power needs, our low-cost hydrogen drastically reduces the operating costs, making it an affordable investment.

In summary, AEC is the only known low-cost producer of high-quality, on-demand hydrogen.

2004-Jun Ditto.

2004-Nov a ) Astris partnership played up.Many fuel cell prices have started to descend, but are still considered too high for mass commercial appeal. In addition, what is not included in these prices is the operating cost, which can include the replacement of very expensive membranes (i.e. PEM). The PEM fuel cell's current cost includes the precious metal platinum, which currently represents approximately 30% of the cost of the cell. Therefore, any saving in cost is over-shadowed by the cost of the platinum, the result being an expensive fuel cell. AEC has partnered with Astris Energi, a leader in Alkaline fuel cell technology, because of their fuel cell's strong reliability and lower cost due to a non-reliance on precious metals.

b) Cost claims made more vague. The least expensive hydrogen is currently derived from the reformation of fossil fuels such as natural gas. Current cost estimates indicate that AEC can produce hydrogen at a significantly lower cost and realize a strong profit even with selling it at a very competitive price.

For those considering the purchase and use of fuel cells for alternative power needs, our low-cost hydrogen drastically reduces the operating costs, making it an affordable investment. Combining a relatively low-cost and reliable fuel cell with AEC's inexpensive, on-demand hydrogen offers an affordable and portable fuel cell solution to the market.

2005-May Ditto.

Alternate Energy Corporation on diet, drops sugarcube

Alternate Energy Corp is a publicly traded company (symbol is ARGY) with too good to be true claims for a Hydrogen from water as they say through a "green" system at a price competitive with the fossil fuel kWh cost of energy.

One of the more inanely worded claims they have made for their process has been removed from their FAQ, but can still be found at their old site, that

To look at another example: A sugar-cube sized piece of our material, combined with the required chemicals and water will produce enough hydrogen to fill a cubic area the volume of a football field three (3) times.

Maybe they were unable to get the rules of football changed to give football fields a defined volume.

Anyway, what volume of Hydrogen could a sugarcube sized piece of their fuel produce? Of course, they don't say what their fuel is, and have managed to avoid patent applications publishing. But we can't be far off using Al. Assuming that a sugarcube is 1cc, to what height could reacting it with water fill a football field with H2?

The Webelements Periodic Table shows 10.00 cc as the molar volume of Al. So 1 cc of Al would be 0.1000 mol. Assuming complete combustion of Al in water, we have 2Al + 3H2O -> Al2O3 + 3H2. So 1 mol of Al would yield 1.5 mol of H2; 1cc of Al would yield .1500 mol of H2. The ideal gas law calculator shows that at STP, one mol of H2 has a volume of 0.022413 cubic meters. So 1cc of Al would yield 0.003362 cubic meters, or 3362cc of H2. An American football field is 160 ft by 320 ft, or 4,756.636 square meters. The H2 yielded by a cc of Al in water would fill a football field to a height of 0.00007068 cm. Reality is a factor of a million off from any plausible interpretation of ARGY's claim. When a company makes a mistake that big, it's not enough to remove it form their FAQ, they ought to issue a correction.

Update
As recently as last November, AEC was saying

To look at another example: A sugar-cube sized piece of our material, combined with the required chemicals and water will produce enough hydrogen to fill a cubic area the volume of an imaginary cubic football field three (3) times.

Is "imaginary cubic football" a Canadian game?