NREL drives toward the future with fuel cell EVs

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
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Contact: David Glickson
david.glickson@nrel.gov
303-275-4097
DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Efforts currently underway at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are contributing to rapid progress in the research, development and testing of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

Building from more than 10 years of support from the Department's Fuel Cell Technologies Office on these topics, NREL has received four Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles Advanced (FCHV-adv) on loan from Toyota. These vehicles will help NREL enhance its research capabilities related to hydrogen fueling infrastructure, renewable hydrogen production, and vehicle performance.

Zero-Emission Fuel Cell Vehicles are Rapidly Evolving

The Toyota vehicle represents another step toward the commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Hydrogen fuel is most often produced using domestic resources and can also be produced using clean renewable energy technologies. When hydrogen is used to power an FCEV, the vehicle has zero tail pipe emissions.

The fuel cells in the Highlander FCHV-adv are representative of the FCEV designs being demonstrated today by automobile companies around the world, making this design an excellent platform for NREL's research activities. Toyota also plans to introduce an FCEV sedan to the U.S. commercial market in 2015.

The zero-emission FCHV-adv, based on a mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) platform, has an expected driving range of 325 miles and a fuel economy estimated at 60 miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent (GGE). GGE is a method for measuring the fuel economy of alternative fuels compared to gasoline and represents the amount of an alternative fuel equal to the energy in one liquid gallon of gasoline.

The vehicle is powered by a fuel cell system with light weight, high-pressure hydrogen tanks, an electric motor, a nickel hydride battery, and a power-control unit that determines the split of power from the battery or fuel cell stack to power the vehicle.

NREL to Explore Wide Research Platform

A man stands in front of the open hood of the vehicle. A group is gathered around him looking at the components of the vehicle under the hood. Enlarge image

Refuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies Laboratory Program Manager Keith Wipke, (in red) explains what's under the hood of the Toyota Highlander fuel cell hybrid vehicle at the NREL Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Ride and Drive Event. These vehicles will help the lab enhance its research capabilities related to hydrogen infrastructure, renewable hydrogen production, and vehicle performance.

Credit: Dennis Schroeder

The four FCEVs, on a two-year loan from Toyota as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NREL, will be put through a wide platform of testing and analysis at the lab. The vehicles were originally deployed in California in 2009 and have been redeployed to NREL as part of this CRADA.

"We're looking at the whole system from renewable hydrogen production and vehicle fueling equipment to the impact of driving patterns and behavior on vehicle performance," said Keith Wipke, NREL Laboratory Program Manager for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies. "Because the vehicles will be four or five years old by the time our loan period ends, we will be able to observe extended durability and reliability, which are critical to the commercial success of these types of vehicles."

Testing will include observing how the vehicles interact with fueling infrastructure and fueling stations that operate at different pressures. While most hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas, at NREL, the vehicles will be fueled with renewable hydrogen made from wind and solar energy as part of the Wind-to-Hydrogen project at the lab's National Wind Technology Center. This project uses wind turbines and solar arrays to power electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

"These vehicles are emission free, but in most scenarios you still have emissions during the hydrogen production," Wipke said. "If you can make the hydrogen using renewable resources you have the potential for this to be a truly zero-emission fuel source. We're pleased to have the opportunity to further investigate this potential."

Other tests will investigate how drivers interact with the vehicles and influence performance over the test period. Researchers will look at the effects of environment and driving patterns on the vehicles' energy storage and propulsion systems, and demonstrate the vehicles operational capability in real-world activities.

On behalf of the Energy Department, NREL is also planning public outreach and education efforts to better prepare the market for the deployment of these types of vehicles. NREL will offer first-hand exposure to hydrogen and fuel cell vehicle technologies to a variety of audiences, including the general public, academia, and the automotive industry.

Getting Ready for Our Transportation Future

A white Toyota sport utility vehicle is parked in a parking lot. Two people are standing in the parking lot looking at the vehicle. Enlarge image

NREL employees investigate a Toyota Highlander fuel cell hybrid vehicle at the lab's Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Ride and Drive Event.

Credit: Dennis Schroeder

FCEVs use hydrogen, stored in high-pressure tanks made of carbon fiber resin, which is fed to the fuel cell stack where it combines with oxygen from the air. The electricity produced by this chemical reaction is used to power the electric motor and charge the battery.

"For someone like myself who is not an electrochemist, it's truly a fascinating technology," Wipke said. "Hydrogen atoms interact with a membrane coated with small amounts of platinum, which splits the hydrogen into protons and electrons. The protons pass through the membrane, and the electrons go around a different path and do the useful electrical work. Eventually, they meet on the other side with oxygen from the air, and form water, which along with a little heat is the only byproduct of the process."

Fuel cell technologies and the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel are becoming more visible as automotive manufacturers move these concepts closer to market.

But while these fuel cell technologies are proven and effective, there are still challenges in deploying them, particularly in terms of reducing cost and increasing durability. NREL's long-term durability testing for FCEVs will provide important data toward solutions to these two interrelated challenges.

Another significant issue with deploying these technologies is the need to develop infrastructure around hydrogen production, delivery, and fueling stations.

"We need a lot of infrastructure in place for FCEVs to have widespread consumer acceptance," Wipke said. "Most hydrogen fueling stations use delivered hydrogen instead of on-site production. That is the most economical pathway right now, but with our capabilities here at NREL we are able to fully explore the opportunities for on-site production."

Despite the challenges, Wipke sees a strong future for the FCEV technology.

"Most automakers are committing to get to market with these vehicles before this decade is out. That is encouraging," Wipke said. "The biggest reasons that they are so excited about this option for the future is that range and refueling time are not a concern compared to other new transportation technologies. This makes it a potentially very consumer-friendly transportation technology, one that will function much like what drivers use today."

"It's an exciting opportunity to help move these technologies forward, and we're pleased to have an important role here at NREL."

###

Learn more about NREL's hydrogen research.

David Glickson

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Glickson
david.glickson@nrel.gov
303-275-4097
DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Efforts currently underway at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are contributing to rapid progress in the research, development and testing of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

Building from more than 10 years of support from the Department's Fuel Cell Technologies Office on these topics, NREL has received four Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles Advanced (FCHV-adv) on loan from Toyota. These vehicles will help NREL enhance its research capabilities related to hydrogen fueling infrastructure, renewable hydrogen production, and vehicle performance.

Zero-Emission Fuel Cell Vehicles are Rapidly Evolving

The Toyota vehicle represents another step toward the commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Hydrogen fuel is most often produced using domestic resources and can also be produced using clean renewable energy technologies. When hydrogen is used to power an FCEV, the vehicle has zero tail pipe emissions.

The fuel cells in the Highlander FCHV-adv are representative of the FCEV designs being demonstrated today by automobile companies around the world, making this design an excellent platform for NREL's research activities. Toyota also plans to introduce an FCEV sedan to the U.S. commercial market in 2015.

The zero-emission FCHV-adv, based on a mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) platform, has an expected driving range of 325 miles and a fuel economy estimated at 60 miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent (GGE). GGE is a method for measuring the fuel economy of alternative fuels compared to gasoline and represents the amount of an alternative fuel equal to the energy in one liquid gallon of gasoline.

The vehicle is powered by a fuel cell system with light weight, high-pressure hydrogen tanks, an electric motor, a nickel hydride battery, and a power-control unit that determines the split of power from the battery or fuel cell stack to power the vehicle.

NREL to Explore Wide Research Platform

A man stands in front of the open hood of the vehicle. A group is gathered around him looking at the components of the vehicle under the hood. Enlarge image

Refuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies Laboratory Program Manager Keith Wipke, (in red) explains what's under the hood of the Toyota Highlander fuel cell hybrid vehicle at the NREL Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Ride and Drive Event. These vehicles will help the lab enhance its research capabilities related to hydrogen infrastructure, renewable hydrogen production, and vehicle performance.

Credit: Dennis Schroeder

The four FCEVs, on a two-year loan from Toyota as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NREL, will be put through a wide platform of testing and analysis at the lab. The vehicles were originally deployed in California in 2009 and have been redeployed to NREL as part of this CRADA.

"We're looking at the whole system from renewable hydrogen production and vehicle fueling equipment to the impact of driving patterns and behavior on vehicle performance," said Keith Wipke, NREL Laboratory Program Manager for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies. "Because the vehicles will be four or five years old by the time our loan period ends, we will be able to observe extended durability and reliability, which are critical to the commercial success of these types of vehicles."

Testing will include observing how the vehicles interact with fueling infrastructure and fueling stations that operate at different pressures. While most hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas, at NREL, the vehicles will be fueled with renewable hydrogen made from wind and solar energy as part of the Wind-to-Hydrogen project at the lab's National Wind Technology Center. This project uses wind turbines and solar arrays to power electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

"These vehicles are emission free, but in most scenarios you still have emissions during the hydrogen production," Wipke said. "If you can make the hydrogen using renewable resources you have the potential for this to be a truly zero-emission fuel source. We're pleased to have the opportunity to further investigate this potential."

Other tests will investigate how drivers interact with the vehicles and influence performance over the test period. Researchers will look at the effects of environment and driving patterns on the vehicles' energy storage and propulsion systems, and demonstrate the vehicles operational capability in real-world activities.

On behalf of the Energy Department, NREL is also planning public outreach and education efforts to better prepare the market for the deployment of these types of vehicles. NREL will offer first-hand exposure to hydrogen and fuel cell vehicle technologies to a variety of audiences, including the general public, academia, and the automotive industry.

Getting Ready for Our Transportation Future

A white Toyota sport utility vehicle is parked in a parking lot. Two people are standing in the parking lot looking at the vehicle. Enlarge image

NREL employees investigate a Toyota Highlander fuel cell hybrid vehicle at the lab's Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Ride and Drive Event.

Credit: Dennis Schroeder

FCEVs use hydrogen, stored in high-pressure tanks made of carbon fiber resin, which is fed to the fuel cell stack where it combines with oxygen from the air. The electricity produced by this chemical reaction is used to power the electric motor and charge the battery.

"For someone like myself who is not an electrochemist, it's truly a fascinating technology," Wipke said. "Hydrogen atoms interact with a membrane coated with small amounts of platinum, which splits the hydrogen into protons and electrons. The protons pass through the membrane, and the electrons go around a different path and do the useful electrical work. Eventually, they meet on the other side with oxygen from the air, and form water, which along with a little heat is the only byproduct of the process."

Fuel cell technologies and the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel are becoming more visible as automotive manufacturers move these concepts closer to market.

But while these fuel cell technologies are proven and effective, there are still challenges in deploying them, particularly in terms of reducing cost and increasing durability. NREL's long-term durability testing for FCEVs will provide important data toward solutions to these two interrelated challenges.

Another significant issue with deploying these technologies is the need to develop infrastructure around hydrogen production, delivery, and fueling stations.

"We need a lot of infrastructure in place for FCEVs to have widespread consumer acceptance," Wipke said. "Most hydrogen fueling stations use delivered hydrogen instead of on-site production. That is the most economical pathway right now, but with our capabilities here at NREL we are able to fully explore the opportunities for on-site production."

Despite the challenges, Wipke sees a strong future for the FCEV technology.

"Most automakers are committing to get to market with these vehicles before this decade is out. That is encouraging," Wipke said. "The biggest reasons that they are so excited about this option for the future is that range and refueling time are not a concern compared to other new transportation technologies. This makes it a potentially very consumer-friendly transportation technology, one that will function much like what drivers use today."

"It's an exciting opportunity to help move these technologies forward, and we're pleased to have an important role here at NREL."

###

Learn more about NREL's hydrogen research.

David Glickson

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/drel-ndt062513.php

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Connecting the Dots, Missing the Story

In this image released by the FBI on April 19 two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing walk near the marathon finish line on April 15.

Handout

Could Big Data have prevented 9/11? Perhaps?Dick Cheney, for one, seems to think so. But let's consider another, far more provocative question: What if 9/11 happened today, in the era of Big Data, making it all but inevitable that all the 19 hijackers had extensive digital histories?

It used to be that one's propensity for terrorism was measured in books or sermons. Today, it's measured in clicks. It's not that books or sermons no longer matter?they still do?it's just today they are consumed digitally, in a way that leaves a trail. And that trail allows us to establish patterns. Are the books you bought on Amazon today more radical than the books you bought last month? If so, you might be a person of interest.

The Tsarnaev brothers, who allegedly bombed the Boston Marathon earlier this year, are of this new breed of terrorists. The brothers felt at home in the world of Twitter and YouTube. And some of the videos reportedly favorited by Tamerlan, the older brother, are clearly of extremist nature. Had someone been analyzing the brothers' viewing habits in real time, a great tragedy might have been averted.

The good news?at least to Big Data proponents?is that we don't need to understand what any of these clicks or videos mean. We just need to establish some relationship between the unknown terrorists of tomorrow and the established terrorists of today. If the terrorists we do know have a penchant for, say, hummus, then we might want to apply extra scrutiny to anyone who's ever bought it?without ever developing a hypothesis as to why the hummus is so beloved. (In fact, for a brief period of time in 2005 and 2006, the FBI, hoping to find some underground Iranian terrorist cells, did just that: They went through customer data collected by grocery stores in the San Francisco area searching for sales records of Middle Eastern food.)

The great temptation of Big Data is that we can stop worrying about comprehension and focus on preventive action instead. Instead of wasting precious public resources on understanding the ?why??i.e., exploring the reasons as to why terrorists become terrorists?one can focus on predicting the ?when? so that a timely intervention could be made. And once someone has been identified as a suspect, it's wise to get to know everyone in his social network: Catching just one Tsarnaev brother early on may not have stopped the Boston bombing. Thus, one is simply better off recording everything?you never know when it might be useful.

Gus Hunt, the chief technology officer of the CIA, said as much earlier this year. "The value of any piece of information is only known when you can connect it with something else that arrives at a future point in time,? he said at a Big Data conference. Thus, ?since you can't connect dots you don't have ? we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang on to it forever." The end of theory, which Chris Anderson predicted in Wired a few years ago, has reached the intelligence community: Just like Google doesn't need to know why some sites get more links from other sites?securing a better place on its search results as a result?the spies do not need to know why some people behave like terrorists. Acting like a terrorist is good enough.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/06/with_big_data_surveillance_the_government_doesn_t_need_to_know_why_anymore.html

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US-bashing TV station gives interview to its benefactor, Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin reportedly gives Russia Today about $300 million annually. The satellite channel?finds the decline of the West lurking in almost every daily headline.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / June 12, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his visit to the new studio complex of television channel 'Russia Today' in Moscow, Tuesday.

Yuri Kochetkov/Reuters

Enlarge

President Vladimir Putin has given his second exclusive interview in less than a year to the state funded English-language satellite network Russia Today, which prefers to be called RT, in a clear sign that the Kremlin views the broadcaster as a key medium for getting its opinions across to the world.?

Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir

Correspondent

Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?

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In his opening remarks, Mr. Putin praised RT, which he said had been created to "end the monopoly of Anglo-Saxon media" in the world. There appears little doubt that Putin believes the network really does reach over 630-million people in over 100 countries ??as it claims to do?? and that such exclusive chats with the Russian president will help further boost its reach.?

Over an almost two hour chat, with most of RT's top staff seated around a long table, he went on to paint the Kremlin's alternative view of global affairs, in which a beleaguered Russia wages a lonely battle for principle and common sense against a cynical and hypocritical West.

Among other things, he chided the US over the current National Security Agency scandal, apparently under the impression that the key controversy is about the letter of the law rather than the extent and scope of state secrecy. "If this [surveillance] is made within the framework of the law, by which the special services? rules of conduct are guided, this is normal. If this is made illegally, it's bad," he said.

He reiterated a suggestion made by his press secretary that Russia might be open to granting asylum?to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Putin spent a good deal of time on the US, which he reminded RT viewers was founded on the "ethnic cleansing" of its native population, and used the atomic bomb on Japanese civilians at the end of WWII ??something he averred Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin would never do. "[Stalin] was a dictator and a tyrant, but I very much doubt that in the spring of 1945, if he had been in possession of an atomic bomb, he would have used it against Germany," Putin said.

He was asked one single question about domestic Russian politics, by RT's American talk show host Peter Lavelle. "Opinion polls show that the opposition in Russia is very small. What kind of opposition would you like to see?" was Mr. Lavelle's query.

Putin replied that opposition is fine, as long as it acts within the law. When protesters break the law, they should be answerable under the legal system. "This is what's happening both in the United States and Russia. But when we do that [put protesters on trial] we are criticized, but when the United States does this, it is considered as a norm. These are the so-called double standards," he said.

Moreover, "[Russia?s] diplomatic service doesn?t cooperate actively with the Occupy Wall Street activists, yet your diplomatic service actively cooperates [with Russia?s opposition] and supports them," Putin added.

Putin might have been defining the current mission of RT, which was started ??along with quite a few other media and PR platforms???8 years ago and tasked with improving Russia's image in the world through journalism that showed the country through the eyes of its own people. According to Russian media, the Kremlin funds RT to the tune of about $300-million annually, and Putin last year personally forbade the government to slash its funding.

The network's focus has migrated, especially since Putin returned to power last year amid widespread disapproval around the world. Now RT runs wall-to-wall coverage of protest rallies everywhere except in Russia, invites commentary from critics of almost every government except Russia's, and produces talk shows that slam Wall Street, attack US imperialism, and find the decline of the West lurking in almost every daily headline.

RT now maintains a full time cable station in the US, RT-America, which broadcasts mostly US-generated content around the clock. Last year, RT signed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to do a series of in-depth interview programs?that explored the corruptions of power and the rise of authoritarianism (in the West). Last month it did a deal with retired TV legend Larry King, that apparently involves RT picking up Mr. King's existing online talk show and also produce an all-new political talk show specially for RT. King subsequently appeared to deny that?but RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan insists that King is contracted to do the show.

The network's programming, along with its relentless Kremlin-inspired focus, is all perfectly fair commentary, of course. Indeed, RT seems deliberately designed to survey the West in the same arbitrary and hectoring tone that the Kremlin feels Western ??particularly US ??journalists cover Russia.?

A recent satirical article?in the Global Post, which garnered massive attention, aimed to show how US journalists would cover the NSA revelations if it were a foreign country: "Inside the United States," is the headline. "GlobalPost goes inside the United States to uncover the regime?s dramatic descent into authoritarian rule and how the opposition plans to fight back."

Anyone who finds that thought provoking ??and they should ??is welcome to tune in to RT. It's the real deal.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/cQ4yRT3RgYY/US-bashing-TV-station-gives-interview-to-its-benefactor-Vladimir-Putin

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U.S. arms makers emerging hopeful in face of budget cuts

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

PARIS (Reuters) - The fallout of U.S. defense budget cuts was plain to see at this week's Paris Airshow in a range of scaled back displays that in the past were packed with a crowd-pleasing array of U.S. military hardware.

Lockheed Martin Corp , whose F-35 radar-evading jet is the biggest weapons program ever, conspicuously left the mockup of the fighter which normally graces Europe's premier industry meeting at home in favor of a billboard picture.

Yet there was also further evidence of a shift towards previously neglected markets in Asia and the Middle East, where economies and defense budgets are still growing strongly, which the industry says will allow it to weather the downturn.

The talk of the show among its U.S. participants was about how well they seem to be riding out the biggest defense cuts in a generation - and how next year's federal budget may prove more forgiving than had been feared.

"The other shoe hasn't dropped yet," said Tom Captain, head of aerospace and defense at the Deloitte consulting group, told Reuters at the air show. "The question is, will it ever?"

U.S. defense budgets are being cut by hundreds of billions of dollars after more than a decade of strong growth, but the top 20 global defense companies reported only a 1.3 percent drop in combined revenues in 2012.

The uncertainty over revenues at home is taking a toll on investments, but executives also say big backlogs, strong international demand and commercial orders have alleviated the worst effects of the sequestration that kicked in in March.

Some companies like Northrop Grumman Corp skipped the show entirely, a reflection, some argued of the industry's shift in geographical priorities.

Lockheed Martin Corp , Boeing Co , Raytheon Co and others are rapidly building up offices in countries including Saudi Arabia, Brazil and India, where military spending is increasing.

Lockheed made about 17 percent of its $47 billion of revenue abroad in 2012, or $8 billion, and the company's senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development, said it will "absolutely" exceed this year's goal of 20 percent.

"We're moving much more aggressively in the international domain," Pat Dewar told Reuters at the airshow. "We're going global in a much bigger way.

FOCUS SHIFT

Industry executives are growing impatient about the inability of U.S. lawmakers and the Obama administration to resolve their differences over future budget levels but Captain said lawmakers were proceeding with fiscal 2014 budget plans as if further cuts would be avoided.

He said companies specialized in next-generation precision strike and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance would perform better in coming years than those that saw big gains from ground vehicle demand in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

But Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, which led an intense, but unsuccessful campaign to avert the $500 billion in across-the-board budget cuts, said many companies were scaling back investments because they still did not know how deep the cuts would finally go.

The first batch of cuts under sequestration took effect on March 1, but many lawmakers and government officials still hope to avert or reduce those planned over the next decade.

"Companies continue to hold back on investment. The uncertainty makes it impossible to move ahead in as aggressive and robust a way as they normally would," Blakey told Reuters.

Mark DeYoung, chief executive of Alliant Techsystems Inc , said the sequestration cuts and lack of clarity over funding made companies more cautious about investing in new technologies, which could have a rippling effect across the economy, limiting jobs and growth in coming years.

ATK reduced its investment plans by 10 to 15 percent during the most recent planning cycle, and further reductions may follow, depending on what happens this year, DeYoung told Reuters at the air show.

"There's uncertainty about making investment and having a return on that investment, so it makes you be more cautious," he said. "As we get through this year and see how sequestration is actually going to be implemented, it may help -- or it may make companies feel the need to pull back even further."

William Swanson, chief executive of Raytheon Co , said he remains focused on things he can control, including delivering weapons on time at the promised cost.

But he can't hide his frustration about what he considers an unprecedented level of uncertainty about U.S. budget levels.

"Every meeting I have, people want to talk about sequestration. That's what sucks all the oxygen out of the room," he said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-arms-makers-emerging-hopeful-face-budget-cuts-165504549.html

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'A Hologram for the King' film will star Tom Hanks

Dave Eggers' National Book Award finalist will star and be produced by 'Cloud Atlas' actor Tom Hanks.

By Molly Driscoll,?Staff Writer / June 13, 2013

Tom Hanks (l.) will reportedly star in and produce a film adaptation of Dave Eggers' novel 'A Hologram For the King.'

L: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

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Tom Hanks will reportedly star in and produce the film adaptation of Dave Eggers? National Book Award finalist ?A Hologram for the King.?

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?King? will be directed by Hanks? ?Cloud Atlas? co-director, Tom Tykwer, who helmed the movie with Andy and Lana Wachowski. Tykwer also adapted ?Hologram? into script form.

Hanks and the other partner in his Playtone production company, Gary Goetzman, will serve as two of the film?s producers.

The story follows a businessman who travels to Saudi Arabia to attempt to sell an IT system to the country?s monarch, a sale that would allow him to save himself from financial ruin.

The actor recently starred in the Oscar-nominated film ?Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close? (another book adaptation) as well as ?Cloud? and will portray Walt Disney in the film ?Saving Mr. Banks,? which is slated for this December.

?Hologram,? which was released in 2012 and was named one of the New York Times Book Review?s 10 best of the year as well as one of the 10 best of the year by Amazon.

Monitor critic Yvonne Zipp found the book interesting but wrote that ?this novel feels smoothly done, but familiar? with its similarities to ?Death of a Salesman? and ?Waiting for Godot."

?The revelations aren't new, but any middle-aged person wondering where his or her career disappeared to during the past five years will easily relate to the main character,? she wrote.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/MogKFcjNqv8/A-Hologram-for-the-King-film-will-star-Tom-Hanks

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Report: Turkey PM to meet with park protesters

ISTANBUL (AP) ? Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency says the prime minister will meet with representatives of the protesters occupying Istanbul's Gezi Park.

The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a "final warning" for the protesters to leave the park, the site of massive protests for the last two weeks.

Erdogan will meet with eight artists and two representatives from Taksim Solidarity, a group that has coordinating much of the Gezi sit-in, Anadolu said. The meeting later Thursday will be the first time that Erdogan has met with a group directly involved in the occupation.

The protest in Istanbul has sparked wide demonstrations across Turkey that have become the biggest challenge yet to Erdogan's 10-year rule.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Turkey's prime minister issued a "final warning" to protesters on Thursday, demanding they end their occupation of a park next to Istanbul's Taksim Square that has ignited the largest political crisis of his 10-year rule.

Despite the ultimatum by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, thousands of activists camping out in Gezi Park dug in for a potential culmination of their two-week standoff with authorities.

Sticking to his trademark defiant tone, Erdogan also dismissed the European Parliament's condemnation over the excessive use of force by Turkish riot police against demonstrators.

The comments showed that Erdogan appears determined to end the widespread protests that have trained an unflattering spotlight on his Islamic-rooted government.

"We have arrived at the end of our patience," Erdogan told local party leaders in Ankara, the capital.

"I am giving you my final warning," he said, directing his comments toward the protesters. He even urged parents with children at the park to convince them to pack up and go home.

Just when a possible final police raid on the park would take place was a topic of wide speculation Thursday.

Erdogan offered no timetable for it and the Interior Ministry declined immediate comment on the subject. The governor of Istanbul insisted no police raid was yet planned, although he didn't rule one out and said the public would be informed ahead of time if one was imminent.

But Hulya Avsar, a prominent actress who met Thursday with Erdogan, said he wanted to end the standoff soon.

"'In case they don't withdraw in 24 hours, there will be some sort of intervention,'" she quoted the prime minister as saying. "At that point, I said, 'I will leave' ? because there was nothing to talk about."

Inside the park, many scoffed at the prime minister's tactics and language, insisting that Erdogan was turning a deaf ear to the roughly half of Turks who didn't vote for him when he was re-elected in 2011.

"Each of us is already an independent individual, may be also a father or a mother. My Mom and Dad do not think that there is an objection for being here," said demonstrator Hasan Husein Karabulut.

In some ways, it's surprising that Gezi Park became the symbol of Turkey's anti-government protests. Although it is in Istanbul's touristy Taksim Square area, it had become a rather seedy place, frequented mostly by homeless men looking for a bench to sleep on.

But it was one of the city's few green spaces, its towering trees providing rare greenery in an increasingly sprawling metropolis.

Gezi Park's sit-in started small, with mainly environmental activists trying to prevent a development project that would cut down its trees to put up replica of an Ottoman barracks.

Then police cracked down on the protesters May 31, spawning wide outrage. Each day saw more tents pitched on the park's grassy verges, more banners erected, more donations of food and blankets for the protesters.

By mid-week last week, Gezi Park was a burgeoning tent city, complete with morning yoga lessons, a library, a food distribution center, an infirmary, a children's activity center and a plant nursery.

The demonstrations then spread to dozens of cities, rallying tens of thousands of people each night, and shifted into a broader protest against Erdogan's rule.

Police have repeatedly fired water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. Five people, including a police officer, have died in the clashes and over 5,000 protesters and 600 police have been reported injured.

Protesters have also objected to what they say is the prime minister's increasingly authoritarian style and his perceived attempts to impose his religious and conservative views on a country with secular laws ? charges that he rejects.

Erdogan also lashed out at the European Parliament over its non-binding resolution Thursday. In a show-of-hands vote suggestive of a broad majority, the EU Parliament expressed its concern over "the disproportionate and excessive use of force" by Turkish police.

The EU assembly said it "deplores the reactions of the Turkish Government and of Prime Minister Erdogan" ? and accused him of driving both sides further apart.

Just minutes before the EU legislature voted, Erdogan drew raucous applause among Turkish party leaders by dismissing the vote.

"I won't recognize the decision that the European Union Parliament is going to take about us!" he declared. "Who do you think you are by taking such a decision?"

There have been some attempts to pacify the protesters. Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu went on a nationally televised talk show Thursday and offered to meet with the demonstrators. A day earlier, Erdogan's Justice and Development party proposed holding a referendum on the Gezi Park development plan.

But more often than not, the most visible government reaction has been from riot police. On Tuesday, they drove back protesters from Taksim Square by firing tear gas and water cannon, ripping down their banners and barricades, and clearing the way for automobile traffic to return.

___

Keaten reported from Ankara. Bassam Hatoum in Istanbul, Ezgi Akin in Ankara and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-turkey-pm-meet-park-protesters-175023193.html

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