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GasBuddy News Article


First Comes Hydrogen Cars
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Design News -- Fork lifts, buses, tarmac tugs and automatic warehouse vehicles have been running on hydrogen for years. Indeed, industrial gas giant Air Products and Chemicals started refueling buses with hydrogen in 1993 and has long served customers with scooters to submarines.

Now hydrogen cars are getting all the attention. The gloomy outlook for cheap energy has put intense pressure on automakers to come up with vehicles running on clean, abundant and convenient fuels. Hydrogen is a strong contender. While energy companies do not see a viable market for them until at least 2015, automakers want to sell hydrogen vehicles as soon as seemingly surmountable technical and economic obstacles are removed. After all, Henry Ford began selling automobiles several years before the first gas station was built in St. Louis in 1905.


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JT
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Message Posted: 9/4/2008 9:39:41 AM  Ignore JT Report Abuse
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Design News -- Fork lifts, buses, tarmac tugs and automatic warehouse vehicles have been running on hydrogen for years. Indeed, industrial gas giant Air Products and Chemicals started refueling buses with hydrogen in 1993 and has long served customers with scooters to submarines.

Now hydrogen cars are getting all the attention. The gloomy outlook for cheap energy has put intense pressure on automakers to come up with vehicles running on clean, abundant and convenient fuels. Hydrogen is a strong contender. While energy companies do not see a viable market for them until at least 2015, automakers want to sell hydrogen vehicles as soon as seemingly surmountable technical and economic obstacles are removed. After all, Henry Ford began selling automobiles several years before the first gas station was built in St. Louis in 1905.

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REPLIES (newest first)
E-Squirrel
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Orange County

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Message Posted: 10/6/2008 6:41:02 PM  Ignore E-Squirrel Report Abuse
In another product, methanol-water fuel cells again prove more practical than other alternatives.

"The company's fuel-cell-and-battery combo survived the longest in a military-sponsored "wear-off" at Twentynine Palms, California. "DuPont, in collaboration with SFC (Smart Fuel Cell AG), is thrilled to have won the competition, and work with the Department of Defense to address the need for lightweight, long-endurance power system for soldiers," Mark Baunchalk, DuPont Fluoroproducts - Fuel Cells business leader, said in a statement."

Read whole article

[Edited by: E-Squirrel at 10/6/2008 7:42:11 PM EST]
Don1222
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Michigan

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Message Posted: 9/26/2008 5:53:44 AM  Ignore Don1222 Report Abuse
A plug in electric car would do just fine as a beginning while the hydrogen car is being developed.
PenDoctrJD
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Orange County

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Message Posted: 9/26/2008 2:34:49 AM  Ignore PenDoctrJD Report Abuse
LOVE EM'
TuNnL
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Honolulu

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Message Posted: 9/25/2008 6:55:37 PM  Ignore TuNnL Report Abuse
On 9/24/2008 at 1:50 PM, ezee2 wrote:

>>> This technology will be on hold until the Oil Giants and governments ruin the economies of the world. Oil Companies currently make the top 10 riches cartel in the world. <<<

If the U.S elects John McCain, that will definitely happen. Did you know that there are more private U.S. contractors in Iraq then there are U.S. soldiers? Why don’t we charge Iraq for U.S. services when Iraq is on track to earn $58 billion in oil profits? That will bring Iraq’s total budget surplus to $79 billion. Why is America continuing to pay billion$ for this war when it’s obvious Iraq can pay their own way?

A vote for McCain is a vote for four more years of Bush policies. Don’t be stupid, America. We need to stop spending our tax dollars on foreign countries and start spending it on Americans.
ezee2
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Toronto

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Message Posted: 9/24/2008 6:50:57 PM  Ignore ezee2 Report Abuse
This technology will be on hold until the Oil Giants and governments ruin the economies of the world. Oil Companies currently make the top 10 riches cartel in the world.
magnumCA
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Los Angeles

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Message Posted: 9/24/2008 5:29:15 PM  Ignore magnumCA Report Abuse
good
POLELANE
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Ohio

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Message Posted: 9/24/2008 2:25:46 PM  Ignore POLELANE Report Abuse
TSA won't let the H-burgh land ever again
Don1222
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Michigan

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Message Posted: 9/24/2008 6:07:23 AM  Ignore Don1222 Report Abuse
rwsb30: Cars will explode too, if the gas tank is ignited.
rwsb30
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Dayton

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Message Posted: 9/23/2008 10:10:55 PM  Ignore rwsb30 Report Abuse
REMEMBER THE HINDENBERG !!!! WE COULD ALWYAYS USE STEAM, YOU JUST HAVE TO HEAT THE WATER WITH SOMETHING. NO WAIT, THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE.
magnumCA
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Los Angeles

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Message Posted: 9/23/2008 7:15:35 PM  Ignore magnumCA Report Abuse
Then comes....................
Bill313
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Kansas City

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Message Posted: 9/23/2008 4:39:55 PM  Ignore Bill313 Report Abuse
Interesting. However until someone is williing to set up a real distribution network unworkable
POLELANE
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Ohio

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Message Posted: 9/23/2008 12:59:02 PM  Ignore POLELANE Report Abuse
cost, safety; availability of refill, cost
TuNnL
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Honolulu

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Message Posted: 9/23/2008 7:27:47 AM  Ignore TuNnL Report Abuse
Under one market simulation in the article, hydrogen vehicles could see a viable market by 2013. Considering how many Mercedes-Benz and Lexus vehicles I see on the road, I think it’s a pretty fair estimate. The leases were sold out for the Honda FCV before the first one even rolled off the assembly line. That proves there is a demand for it. Cost is the only issue at this point.
OHMS
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Orange County

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Message Posted: 9/22/2008 6:13:01 PM  Ignore OHMS Report Abuse
atomic reactors are great at it...
E-Squirrel
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Orange County

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Message Posted: 9/22/2008 4:39:36 PM  Ignore E-Squirrel Report Abuse
STEVE853 asks:

"What are they waiting for?"

Prices that you could afford.
Jagman98
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Louisville

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Message Posted: 9/22/2008 7:48:29 AM  Ignore Jagman98 Report Abuse
I've read this article before....as for Hydrogen Fork Lifts.....never heard of Hydrogen.....propane or natural gas....yes...but hydrogen..Hmmmm...

I have heard of a few home made prototype water type reactors....fitted to cars/trucks...but the facts still have yet to prove a benefit....you still need a power source to extract the hydrogen from the water....
STEVE853
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Florida

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Message Posted: 9/21/2008 7:18:18 PM  Ignore STEVE853 Report Abuse
What are they waiting for?
Don1222
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Michigan

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Message Posted: 9/21/2008 5:29:40 PM  Ignore Don1222 Report Abuse
It will happen if the incentives are there.
samc3d
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Jacksonville

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Message Posted: 9/21/2008 1:50:19 PM  Ignore samc3d Report Abuse
I believe we need efficiencies now. By 2050 I'll be 100 years old. Air powered vehicles are much closer reality now and they do not require a lot of supporting infrastructure.
E-Squirrel
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Orange County

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Message Posted: 9/9/2008 7:52:45 PM  Ignore E-Squirrel Report Abuse
Hydrogen fuel cells are not the only techology that has been tried. Methnol and water fuel cells have actually powered prototypes too. It doesn't take much thinking to see that methanol and water are much easier to transport, store and use than hydrogen gas would be, and with our existing infrastructure.

Here the news about Daimler's methanol fuel cell vehicle:

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2002/06/52877

[Edited by: E-Squirrel at 9/9/2008 8:53:17 PM EST]
Jagman98
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Message Posted: 9/9/2008 6:55:38 PM  Ignore Jagman98 Report Abuse
There are always adaptations required for any new technologies. Fuel cells may be one of the solutions but not the only one. We'll need to be open to any option.....in the long run it will be better.
E-Squirrel
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Message Posted: 9/8/2008 6:52:58 PM  Ignore E-Squirrel Report Abuse
UP-Skier tells us:

"The technology for a hydrogen powered car is no problem, they have been running around for years. The big problem is the cost of the hydrogen."

I believe that the cost of the hydrogen itself is not the biggest expense. Fuel cell technology was demonstrated more than 20 years ago. The technology is not a problem. There is no real market for hydrogen gas, so its hard to compare its cost to that of other fuels, like propane or gasoline.

However, the costs of operating a practical vehicle mount up. First of all, a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle is a hybrid system, because the fuel cell does not readily accommodate the changing demand for electric power that a vehicle in traffic requires. The fuel cell operates, like the gasoline engine in a Prius, to keep charging the battery. While this adds somewhat to the cost, it is nothing compared with the price of the fuel cell itself.

Besides the cost of the fuel cell, a practical solution requires that we build an entirely new infrastructure to produce the hydrogen, transport it, and store it at stations. This is a huge investment. If you really like the idea of a fuel cell powered hybrid vehicle, I would propose fuel cells running on methanol instead of hydrogen. Methanol would be much easier to accommodate in our existing infrastructure for gasoline and ethanol. Methanol and water fuel cells appear closer to consumer products today, than does hydrogen.
POLELANE
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Message Posted: 9/8/2008 4:15:00 PM  Ignore POLELANE Report Abuse
and most systems go less than a hundred miles without refuelling
UP-Skier
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Message Posted: 9/7/2008 7:52:37 PM  Ignore UP-Skier Report Abuse
The technology for a hydrogen powered car is no problem, they have been running around for years. The big problem is the cost of the hydrogen.
mtnpotter
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 5:55:04 PM  Ignore mtnpotter Report Abuse
I guess I get my gases confused - I've been working in the freight distribution industry for over 20 years. I have been around many forklifts, etc. They DO run on electric batteries and propane, but hydrogen(?), that's a new one on me - unless we are defining propane as hydrogen, and my rookie chemistry knowledge tells me they aren't the same.

Can you explain about the hydrogen powered forklifts, please??
E-Squirrel
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 4:00:23 PM  Ignore E-Squirrel Report Abuse
Mazdaman7Q believes:

"Hydrogen makes much more sense than ethanol"

I don't agree. Both ethanol and hydrogen are fuels, that must be manufactured from some energy source, the way that gasoline is made from oil. Ethanol can be made from many sources, including plants or oil, whereas hydrogen must be made from natural gas.

Given the very high cost of present-day fuel cell technology, and the extraordinarily expensive infrastructure required to support it, I believe compared just as fuels (without even considering the source issues), ethanol wins hands down.

rho
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Sacramento

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 12:19:38 PM  Ignore rho Report Abuse
And what is holding you all for doing this? Get-r-done.
jbcol1
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Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 11:58:35 AM  Ignore jbcol1 Report Abuse
Amen!!! Let's do it!
ccf_jeff
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“Hybrids today are great, but you can't hybrid-ize your way into energy security. You have to move to alternatives to oil,” says Clarity Program Manager Steve Ellis. “A key point is that even with hydrogen from natural gas, we get a 60 percent reduction in CO2 from well to wheel.”

========================

That's all well and good, but how would that compare to natural gas cars like the Honda Civic gx? In other words, what is the advantage of using natural gas to produce electricity to make hydrogen to put in vehicles completely re-engineered to run on hydrogen vs burning the natural gas in the vehicles in the first place?

I don't see how adding the extra steps and having to come up with an entirely new infrastructure improves things.

Auto and truck manufacturers have been making natural gas vehicles for decades for prices around those of gasoline & diesel vehicles. Hydrogen vehicles are currently far more expensive:

"Like GM, Honda must get FCV production costs down and make it more durable. Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said recently in the Wall Street Journal the car costs tens of million of yen to build now and must fall below 10 million yen or $92,000."

(Note: FCV = Fuel Cell Vehicles) Their goal is to get them down to $92,000? It'll be awhile before I run out to buy one at those kind of prices.


[Edited by: ccf_jeff at 9/5/2008 12:34:52 PM EST]
BIGJEFFSYR
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 11:03:15 AM  Ignore BIGJEFFSYR Report Abuse
HAVE BEEN WONDERING SINCE 8TH GRADE WHEN THEY BLEW UP A BALLOON WHY CARS COULD NOT RUN ON IT. DOES THAT MEAN I CAN GET PART OF THE ROYALTIES ON THE NEW CARS.
Mazdaman7Q
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South Carolina

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:54:56 AM  Ignore Mazdaman7Q Report Abuse
Hydrogen makes much more sense than ethanol
OKRifle
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:52:27 AM  Ignore OKRifle Report Abuse
For God's sake....lets "get'er done"!
dougrusty
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Just do it!
w4kh
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Riverside

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:47:44 AM  Ignore w4kh Report Abuse
If we incorporate multiple technologies, then some fuels, like Hydrogen, become more practical... US drivers must, no matter the fuel, adopt different driving habits and smaller vehicles...

Now is a great time to start!
MarkJM
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Little Rock

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:46:10 AM  Ignore MarkJM Report Abuse
I read somewhere that Hydrogen as a fuel was used before gasoline. Once gas stations started opening, the rest of the story is history
grandamgt1
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:43:21 AM  Ignore grandamgt1 Report Abuse
i remember long ago in science class we used electricity to split water into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. of course energy companies do not see a viable market..... how can you charge more for water than a gallon of gas? wait a minute.... evian anyone?
jpmorgas
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North Carolina

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I wonder about the DOE because if they had pushed hydrogen vehicle development 25-years ago we would be driving hydrogen cars now and the rag-heads would be using camels and wouldn't be able to afford the AK-47's they are using to shoot at us. Honda and BMW seem to be the leaders, as always, in hydrogen cars. The U.S. automakers have too much internal political protectionism to develop anything worthwhile.
tbybee
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I welcome them.
dred001
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:39:54 AM  Ignore dred001 Report Abuse
HHO conversion isn't hard ..DYI backyard mechanics can do it! Enmass production a distribution could be done. An interesting method would be to upgrage power distribution infrastructure to MTempsuperconducors and use CryoHydrogen along the distribution route. Getting it to city drop point and good old fashion power substations at a 30% energy savings. ( this from existing Hydro/Nuke/Coal plants etc.) the save energy would produce the hydrogen which could be used like NatGAs, or Gasoline, cooking in your home...heating...even running local surge power stations for the "electric rush hours". It could be use to store energy from wind and solar when semand is low and source is available and allow more efficient use of existing nuculear plants which oftrn have to cycle back to near idle
tonycmd
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Maryland

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:39:21 AM  Ignore tonycmd Report Abuse
now make it affordable
amacquarrie
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:38:01 AM  Ignore amacquarrie Report Abuse
good deal
patbob56
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hmmm
ss70
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:35:10 AM  Ignore ss70 Report Abuse
natural gas cars would be good for next 10- 15 years till the hyderogen cars/Electric cars set in. I dont know why it is a bigissue to convert cars to nat gas here in US .. In most parts of the world it is done with less than $150 and you still will have a optionof switching between nat gas and gasoline
laddyboy62
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lets see
Wolfwings
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Delaware

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:34:06 AM  Ignore Wolfwings Report Abuse
The only way the manufacturers will ramp up making of hyrogen vehicles is for the government to force them or if the buying public insists on them. The same can be said for anything we want. It is time to ELECT new policies regarding our world. Call, write, or E-Mail your elected OAFicials to let them know your concerns, then REMIND them that you will be IN the voting booth to speak your mind.
zivkam
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Dallas

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Build it and they will come.
RPetty
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Maryland

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It's a Start!
julius1st4
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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:29:49 AM  Ignore julius1st4 Report Abuse
At this time , HYDROGEN CARS are kind of on the "back burner"
HYBRIDS & ELECTRIC & PROPANE are the name of the GAME at this stage.
HYDROGEN still requires more "Research & Developement". It's still not ready for the "Commercial" market.
suzyq2007
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Dallas

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Message Posted: 9/5/2008 9:28:53 AM  Ignore suzyq2007 Report Abuse
I cannot believe that hydrogen cars will solve our problems. they will probably so expensive that most people will be unable to afford them. We just need to drill everywhere there is oil and quit relying on foreign countries for our oil
Bababouie
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Cleveland

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Where's my jetpack already?
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