4/30/1999  NASA Completes Purchase Of Material For 60 Shuttle External Tanks - Science Daily

NASA and Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems, of New Orleans, La., have completed negotiations on a contract worth $625.6 million for the final purchase of materials needed to build 60 new Space Shuttle external fuel tanks. ...This newest version of the tank is the same size as the previous Lightweight Tank design, but weighs approximately 7,500 pounds less. Its liquid hydrogen tank and the liquid oxygen tank are made of a new aluminum lithium alloy, a lighter - but 30 percent stronger - material than the previous aerospace aluminum alloy used for the Lightweight Tank. ...Measuring 154 feet tall and 27.5 feet in diameter, the external tank is the largest single element of the Space Shuttle. During launch, the tank also acts as the structural backbone for the Shuttle orbiter and solid rocket boosters attached to it. The external tank holds the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer for the Shuttle's three main engines.

4/30/1999  Analysts: Electric Cars May Fade Away by Mark Glover - Sacramento Bee (California)

When dignitaries gathered at the Capitol last week to examine two fuel-cell technology prototype cars, a Ford Motor Co. official noted: "You realize this probably means the death of the traditional electric vehicle." "I think it's just the natural progression of the technology, not the abandonment of it," said Len Brewster, a Detroit-based auto analyst. "Fuel-cell technology is proving to be the better technology and that will probably continue. The battery-powered electric vehicle never evolved to the point where it was practical for American motorists."

4/30/1999  Electric Cars May Be Headed for Extinction by Anthony Breznican - Fox News/AP

"This project is still taking baby steps," said Richard Varenchik, spokesman for California Air Resources Board. "We're very unhappy with this. If the technology is not ready yet, you don't get there by stopping. You continue to refine the product." ...Toyota, General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChysler and Nissan all say they will continue to produce battery-powered cars, but will pursue the development of other technologies as a possible alternative. Many automakers have focused on developing hybrid engines that run on fuel cells, which produce electricity through the low-emission chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. ...Jack Keebler, the Detroit editor of Motor Trend magazine, said environmentalists have blindly latched on to the idea that electric engines are the only solution to pollution. Other alternatives like fuel cells might prove more practical and nearly as effective.

4/30/1999  Mercedes Has 'Clean' Car Ready - Deseret News/Scripps Howard Service (Utah)

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner attended the news conference that showcased the car and voiced a strong endorsement on behalf of the federal government. "This demonstrates a technology that leaves a trail of water vapor, not clouds of pollutants," she said. "We look forward to the day this car is available to anyone who wants to do their part for a clean environment. ...Massive pollution" lies ahead without such a car, she said, noting there are 200 million internal combustion autos on U.S. roads, and 270 million are expected by 2010.

4/29/1999  What You'll Be Driving by John O'dell - Los Angeles Times

The car of the future may have a hydrogen-fueled heart, a computerized brain and an exotic skeleton of alloy metal and composite plastic, but the auto industry remains convinced that design will still provide its soul.

4/29/1999 Despite Progress, Obstacles Still Remain for Fuel-Cell Vehicles by Donald W. Nauss - Los Angeles Times

Both auto makers expect the first fuel-cell vehicles offered for sale to use methanol, a liquid fuel that can be processed to yield hydrogen. But such vehicles will need expensive and bulky on-board processors. Methanol fuel-cell vehicles are likely to be demonstrated beginning in 2002 in California. Auto executives are quick to point out that fuel-cell vehicles can succeed only if they can match or exceed today's vehicles in comfort, convenience and cost. Given that fuel-cell systems now cost 10 times more than traditional engines, that no fuel infrastructure exists for hydrogen or methanol and that the systems are still too big and heavy, they are by no means assured of public acceptance. Still, their rapid development is remarkable. And unlike battery-powered electric vehicles, which have failed to catch on because advanced storage units can't deliver adequate range, there aren't significant technological problems standing in the way of fuel cells.

4/27/1999  ARCO Sees Future In Fuel Cells, Says Gasoline Motor On Way Out by Dale Jewett - The Detroit News

The earth trembled a little bit last week in Sacramento, Calif., but it wasn't due to one of the state's notorious earthquakes. Mike Bowlin, chief executive of Atlantic Richfield Co., the parent company of ARCO gasoline stations, stood on the steps of the state Capitol and declared that the days of the internal combustion engine were numbered. The future, Bowlin said, is in fuel cells. ...Bowlin's statement raised many eyebrows among the Detroit contingent at the event. Was he committing economic suicide for one of the country's biggest oil companies? Internal combustion engines and gasoline have reigned supreme over the U.S. auto industry for more than 80 years. But a move to cleaner running powertrains such as fuel cells shouldn't be a disaster for the oil industry, Bowlin said after the formal presentation, but an opportunity. Why? Because the fuel-cell vehicles rolled out by Ford and DaimlerChrysler most likely will use methanol, converted to hydrogen on board the vehicle, to power the fuel cell. And the same refineries that ARCO uses today to produce gasoline can be retrofitted to produce methanol.

4/26/1999  Editorial: Fueled by Necessity - Montreal Gazzette (Canada)

Clearly, something is cooking. That something is not only a growing awareness of internal combustion's drawbacks, an awareness that sometimes seems distressingly abstract. Now, in addition, there is the all-too-real imperative of a California law requiring that 2 per cent of any automaker's sales in the state be emissions-free by 2003. In the Ballard system, the hydrogen and oxygen are combined in fuel cells without combustion, which means that the only exhaust is water vapour, no more noxious than a cloud in the sky. How fitting that California, the part of the world whose gas-guzzlers, freeways and far-flung suburbs have almost defined the automobile culture but that has suffered more than most from automobile exhaust, should be taking this initiative.

4/26/1999  Capstone Hydrogen Forklift Team (Arizona State University East) Earns Trip to Westech '99 by Dewayne Smith - Phoenix Business Journal (Arizona)

A fleet of forklifts, all propane powered, were being used to transport displays and equipment inside the coliseum. Brief conversations with a few of the forklift drivers and coliseum workers determined that the emissions from the forklifts smelled badly and irritated the employees. "I liked those comments a lot," said ASU East team member Rebeca Dittemore, who will graduate next month with a degree in manufacturing. "That even further assured us we were on the right track." They sure were. The 22-member team won the grand prize in the Westec International Manufacturing Challenge competition, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, for its $1,200 conversion kit that replaces propane fuel with hydrogen fuel, which has no odor and literally expels cleaner air than it takes in. The two-semester project, which culminated in seven weeks of intensive work by the team aided by faculty, advisors and and private industry, was financed by a nearly $40,000 grant from Boeing Helicopter, Mesa. And that didn't cover the donation of a well-used Boeing propane-powered forklift. ...And nobody is happier about the successful, low-cost conversion, which also was recognized by Rotary International with a distinguished engineering project award, than Roy McAlister, an ASU professor and president of the American Hydrogen Association.

4/25/1999  Nasa Designs Flying Saucer by Sean Hargrave - The Sunday Times (London)

The concept is not as radical as it sounds. It had been mooted as a means of launching satellites several years before Professor Leik Myrabo of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State began toying with the notion in the 1970s. He has since proved the concept and is working on a prototype flying saucer for Nasa and the US Air Force. In practice this will mean a spaceship guided from Earth by a powerful laser. When the craft reaches the edge of the atmosphere, and the lifting power of the laser dwindles, the energy source will be used to heat an on-board store of hydrogen fuel. It is expected that by the time the laser makes the switch from acting as a propellant to heating the hydrogen, the ship will be on the brink of the atmosphere, travelling at more than five times the speed of sound. The on-board fuel source would then be used to enter space.

4/25/1999  Fuel Cell Technology Awaits Test-Drive Around the State by Robert Oakes - Contra Costa Times (California)

The partnership will start looking for possible test locations for buses, said Joe Irvin, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, a state agency involved in the project. Public transit vehicles must be safe, rugged and reliable, and a full-service demonstration on city streets and freeways will determine whether fuel cell buses can meet that standard. "There is a lot to be learned about it, and that's what we'll do," Irvin said. "Will they hold up to the rigors of public transportation?" Transit agencies have heard about the program, but sponsors are just starting to look for participants, said Edward Gerber, executive director of the California Transit Association, a Sacramento-based trade group.

4/24/1999  Fuel Cells Hit the Road - The Economist (UK)

One source of high cost is obvious enough—the platinum. The amount needed has already been reduced, but it will have to be cut further. A second is the grooved graphite plates that are used to direct the flow of hydrogen and oxygen. These are being replaced with cheap carbon composites. On their own, these and similar economies should bring the cost of a kilowatt of output down to around $20, if as many as 250,000 engines a year were produced. But a fuel-cell engine is more than a stack of cells. If it is ultimately fuelled by methanol, it needs a chemical reactor, known as a reformer, to release the hydrogen. It also needs an efficient—but cheap—electric motor. Reformers are bulky and expensive. Efforts to shrink them have run into problems, according to Firoz Rasul, Ballard’s boss. The main one is that smaller reformers produce too much carbon monoxide. Besides diminishing the fuel cell’s green credentials, this “poisons” the platinum and stops it doing its job. So far, nobody has come up with an answer to this difficulty that does not involve shifting to another, presumably more expensive, source of hydrogen.

4/24/1999  Scientists Claim Gains in Developing a Safe, Cheap Power Source - Deseret News (Utah)

...in two days of preliminary experiments in February, the machine produced nearly six times the current targeted for those first runs. That proved the reactor could create a plasma with its giant magnets and just one of its heating systems, which uses an electrical current, like a toaster or space heater. Technicians now are installing the second, a radio frequency heating system that works like microwaves, and will begin experiments in earnest in July, said Masa Ono, the project director. Come January, experiments will halt while workers connect neutral beam injectors, which shoot super-heated particles into the plasma.

4/24/1999  Alliant Aids Space Launch - Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)

Alliant Techsystems has delivered the first of two liquid hydrogen fuel tanks for the Lockheed Martin X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle. The fuel tank will be flown to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunstville, Ala., for testing, and then will be shipped to Palmdale, Calif., to be installed in the X-33.

4/23/1999  Earth Day Pioneer Pitches Theme for Future by Jim Nichols - Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio)

Hayes coordinated the first Earth Day in 1970, organizing a nationwide rally for a cleaner environment that has become an international fixture every April 22. The environmentalist movement has become a powerful force in American politics. Some of the same American corporations that once disdained environmentalism as a fringe movement bent on destroying capitalism now spend vast sums to portray themselves as environmentally friendly. And the nation is cleaner and greener in many ways. Hayes said he and a new organization called Earth Day 2000 would use next year's event as a springboard for sweeping changes in global energy policy, as well as changes in the behaviors of ordinary people. He will call for a movement away from an economy based on burning coal, natural gas and gasoline toward one based on "renewable" energy sources. Among them: solar, wind and geothermal power, and now-emerging power sources called fuel cells that turn hydrogen into pollution-free electricity. Hayes wants to rally public pressure on Congress for government policies and incentives that could make America a global leader in the new technologies.  [Denis Hayes was named by Time as "Hero for the Planet" on April 21, 1999]

4/23/1999  Fuel Speed Ahead: Capital Gets Early Look at Fuel-Cell Vehicles That Industry Is Counting On by Bruce Grant - Sacramento Bee (California)

Hydrogen fuel-cell cars silently cruised the streets of Sacramento this week, some years ahead of their time. ...Not only does the P2000 look like a Taurus, it is designed to achieve the performance of a Taurus: 0 to 60 mph in 12 seconds. Its fuel cell produces the equivalent of a 100 horsepower internal combustion engine. Lifting the hood of the P2000 reveals a pair of "boxes" that one might think make up the fuel cell. Not so. The stacked boxes are inverters that operate the myriad electronic compoments, such as power steering, heater, etc. The fuel cell is hidden from view under the trunk of the car. A stubby cylindrical hydrogen tank sits where luggage would otherwise be placed in the trunk. The P2000 has a conventional appearing automatic transmission, with "D" for drive and "R" for reverse, etc. Driving the P2000 feels much the same as a Taurus. Sound is a different story. There is a pronounced whirring sound that would be annoying over a long period of time. However, Ford engineers say the noise will be eliminated when the first five P2000 sedans come to market in 2001.

4/23/1999  Carmakers Are Going an Extra Mile With Fuel-Cell Technology - International Herald Tribune

Akihiro Wada, the executive vice president of Toyota, described hybrid vehicles with gas and electric motors working in tandem as the most promising technical option for alternate-power vehicles. Annual output of such vehicles could surpass that of traditional gas-powered engines early in the next century, Mr. Wada said. GM and Toyota have been at the forefront of advanced-technology development. GM was the first to market with a new electric vehicle when it introduced the EV1 in 1996. It is also working on several hybrid-electric concepts and has exhibited a methanol-based fuel-cell vehicle. Last year, the president of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Katsuhiko Kawasoe, said his company and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. were working jointly on developing vehicles powered by fuel cells, and they aimed to have a commercially feasible vehicle ready by 2005.

4/22/1999  Environmentalists Launch Earth Day 2000 Campaign by Judy Aita - U.S. Information Agency

U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said that the United States "shares many of the goals of Earth Day 2000, especially the goal of developing technologies that can help protect our environment. The Earth Day 2000 theme, 'New Energy for a New Era,' accurately reflects the many challenges and opportunities we face as we head into the new millennium," Richardson said. "All of us play a role in making Earth Day's ideals a reality... The way we heat and cool our homes and workplaces, power our industries, and fuel our vehicles produces 85 percent of the greenhouse gases the U.S. pumps into the environment. These gases, in turn, contribute to climate change. Over time, we need to make a transition to clean, renewable energy sources and more energy efficient goods and services. We need to make responsible energy choices. We need to tell the world about the many alternatives available today, right now, to revolutionize our energy future," Richardson said.

4/22/1999  The Refueling of America by Eric C. Evarts - Christian Science Monitor

Until now, most zero-emissions lobbyists have been focusing on battery-powered electric cars. But Paul Lancaster of Ballard Power systems, the company that designed NECAR4's fuel cells, says batteries have two intractable problems:  They have low-energy density. That is they don't store nearly as much energy for their weight and size as do fossil fuels. ...They take hours to recharge. More-over, the faster you recharge them, the shorter their range and the sooner they have to be replaced, Mr. Lancaster says. ...Daimler has also proposed a model that uses home refueling stations to fill fuel-cell cars with hydrogen. Hydrogen could be piped to homes like natural gas and used to provide home electricity and heat as well.

4/22/1999  Denmark Removing More Coal-based Power - Power Online

Bjarne Korshoej, head of power production at Elsam, elaborated that the decision affected all old coal-fired power plants of around 200 MW. He said the four coal-based units and one oil-based unit slated to be removed produced around 1300 MW. Korshoej said Elsam's decision was in part motivated by Denmark's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Denmark plans to reduce its average emissions of greenhouse gases between 2008 and 2012 by 21% in relation to the 1990 level.) Marianne Grydgaard, a spokesperson at SK Power, said a new gas-fired and bio-fueled generation plant set to begin operation at the end of 2001 would replace three additional coal-fired units producing nearly 650 MW in eastern Denmark.

4/21/1999  Coalition Hails Fuel-Cell Vehicles as Car of Future by Mark Glover - Sacramento Bee (California)

State officials, automakers, oil company executives and alternative-fuel experts gathered Tuesday at the Capitol to celebrate what ultimately may be the death of an American institution -- the internal combustion engine. ...DaimlerChrysler's compact NECAR 4 and Ford's five-passenger P2000 Prodigy were displayed on Tuesday. The cars are powered by liquid hydrogen and have nearly a 100-mph capability. Their driving range is nearly 300 miles. ...Arco Chairman Mike Bowlin said the partnership truly believes fuel-cell power is "the technology that will replace the internal combustion engine."

4/21/1999   Riding Lasers Into Space by Lee Dye - ABC

On the vehicle’s underside is a mirror that focuses the laser toward the rim. It heats up the air to hotter-than-the-sun temperatures of about 18,000 to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit, making the air explode, which provides the thrust. The craft can’t stray out of the beam even if it tries. “If a gust of wind tries to blow it out, it will vector itself back in automatically,” he says. The next step requires much more powerful lasers of at least one megawatt. That should provide enough power to send a small satellite up to about 100,000 feet above Earth, where the air becomes too thin for air propulsion. Then, a little hydrogen from an onboard tank could be squirted out the back to substitute for the lost air, where it would be heated by the laser, pushing the ship on into orbit.

4/21/1999  California to Test Fuel Cell-Based Cars, Buses - CNN/AP

"Our long-term goal is very simple: zero emissions in the air," Gov. Gray Davis said. ...John White of the Sierra Club predicts fuel cells will eventually replace gasoline and provide the long-distance driving capability that another alternative, electricity, lacks.

4/21/1999  Environmentally Friendly Buses Might be Trialed in West Australia - Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Western Australia has been put forward as a location to trial emission-free buses. A car manufacturing company in Germany is testing the fuel cell vehicles in several countries and wants to see the technology used in its commercial production line by 2004. ...The State Government has approached the company, hoping that at least one bus will be provided for trial in Perth.

4/20/1999  Governor Davis Announces Historic Auto, Oil and Government Partnership to Demonstrate Fuel Cell Vehicles - Businesswire

The "California Fuel Cell Partnership -- Driving For the Future" makes the state home to a unique collaborative of auto manufacturers (DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company), oil companies (ARCO, Shell, Texaco), a fuel cell company (Ballard Power Systems), and the State of California. The Partnership will advance a new automobile technology on the path toward practical, affordable and environmentally friendly transportation solutions for California and the rest of the world. ...The Partnership will place about 50 fuel cell vehicles on the road between 2000 and 2003. Ford and DaimlerChrysler will each initially provide five fuel cell passenger cars by 2001. The partnership will work with California transit agencies to demonstrate 20 fuel cell buses. All the vehicles will be powered by Ballard fuel cells.  In addition to testing the vehicles, the Partnership will also identify fuel infrastructure issues and prepare the California market for this new technology. Initial demonstration vehicles will run on hydrogen, directly from tanks on board the vehicles. Subsequent demonstration vehicles are likely to run on methanol fuel.

4/20/1999  Texaco to Explore Fuel Cell Systems Business - Businesswire

Converting a broad range of readily available hydrocarbon fuels into hydrogen is a necessary step in the commercial development of an efficient and feasible fuel cell energy system. The formation of Texaco Energy Systems and participation in the California Fuel Cell Partnership will allow Texaco to apply the company's extensive expertise in fuel conversion technologies to advance the development of commercially viable fuel cell systems.  "Texaco is the recognized world leader in gasification technology, a process that converts solid, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon feedstocks into hydrogen or synthesis gas. Gasification is among the most promising conversion technologies for fuel cell systems," said Wicker. Worldwide, there are 68 Texaco-owned or licensed gasification plants operating or under construction, with 14 dedicated to the production of hydrogen.

4/20/1999  Fuel-cell Maker Launches Tests in California by Madhavi Acharya - Toronto Star (Canada)

Ford and DaimlerChrysler will test the cars unveiled today under normal road conditions in several California locations. ...The venture is being announced in Sacramento today by California governor Gray Davis and oil industry participants Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Texaco Inc. ..."`It's the first time that we've seen fuel providers involved in something like this. We're all working together on this,'' Ballard spokesperson Debbie Roman said. The California program will be expanded to 30 cars and about 25 buses by 2003, she added.

4/20/1999  Exec Says GM - Toyota Partnership Could Grow - Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

A merged GM and Toyota would account for more than one quarter of the world's car and truck sales, but GM Vice Chairman Harry Pearce stopped short of predicting a deal. "It would certainly be premature to talk about a merger,'' Pearce said. "But I think it's important for both companies to have a very open mind in terms of where this kind of collaboration takes us.'' Pearce's comment came after he and Toyota Vice President Akihiro Wada announced a five- year deal to jointly research and develop alternative-fuel vehicles. Pearce said both sides expected the venture to last well beyond five years as "a long-term and continuing collaboration.'' ...The GM-Toyota research initially will focus on vehicles powered by fuel cells, batteries and hybrid propulsion systems that combine different technologies, such as electric motors and high- efficiency gasoline engines.

4/20/1999  GM, Toyota Join Engineering Forces for Clean Fuel Vehicles by David Phillips - The Detroit News (Michigan)

"With environmental concerns so critical, no single auto manufacturer can realistically expect to find all the technological answers on its own, let alone in a timely matter," GM Vice-Chairman Harry Pearce said Monday. He unveiled the project alongside Akihiro Wada, Toyota's executive vice-president and top engineer. "Both companies are capable individually of doing what we're proposing," Pearce said. "But our joint efforts will yield the best solutions, in the fastest time frame, at the lowest cost, to reach the most people."

4/20/1999  GM, Toyota Team Up To Make Electric Cars - Washington Post/AP (Washington, D.C.)

General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. said today that they will jointly develop vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells and other types of electric power, intensifying a global race to produce environment-friendly vehicles. The big automakers announced their deal one day before another group -- Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG and fuel-cell maker Ballard Power Systems Inc. -- was scheduled to announce a pact with three leading petroleum companies and the state of California to put a demonstration fleet of fuel-cell vehicles on the road next year. The oil companies involved in the Ford-Daimler-Ballard agreement include Texaco Inc., Atlantic Richfield Co. and Shell Oil Co., which will be responsible for refining low-sulfur -- perhaps zero-sulfur -- feeder fuels to be used in hydrogen-cell engines.

4/20/1999  Siemens Solar Thin-Film Photovoltaic Modules Exceed 12 Percent Efficiency
                National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Verifies New Record, Calls It 'Stunning' - E-Wire/Siemens

The NREL measured 11.4 percent average efficiency at standard test conditions which is the highest average module efficiency for any thin-film technology. The array efficiency is 40 percent above the closest thin-film contender. All the modules delivered to NREL far exceed the 10 percent DOE year 2000 goal for commercial CIS modules. James Rannels, Acting Director, Office of PV and Wind Technology, DOE, stated, "This is an important research milestone and a stunning achievement." CIS research and development at Siemens Solar has been partially funded by the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This new thin-film product introduction is one example of the successful fulfillment of DOE and NREL efforts to move promising technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace. [see also "World Record Thin Film Cell Efficiency" - NREL]

4/20/1999  N.Y. Power Authority 'Green Machine' Dedicated; Will Light NYPD'S Central Park Precinct - NYPA/PRNewswire

The New York Power Authority (NYPA)added a novel touch of green to the Central Park landscape Tuesday when itdedicated a fuel cell power plant that will produce virtually pollution-freeelectricity while solving a major problem for the police station in the park. ...The fuel cell will meet the electricity needs of the 128-year-old policestation, which at times hasn't had enough power to run all of the computers,copiers and office fixtures essential to police work. It will permitinstallation of sophisticated electronic booking equipment, and will end theneed to shut off the air conditioning for lack of power on some hot summerdays.

4/19/1999  Ballard Power Shares Climb On California Test News - Reuters

...analysts said the pilot test in California -- the state with the most stringent vehicle emission-reduction targets -- showed huge potential for Ballard's technology, which turns hydrogen gas into electricity and leaves only heat and water vapor as byproducts. "California is one of the most progressive states in terms of environmental policy and a significant amount of the U.S. population is there,'' said Kevin Binnie, an analyst with Pacific International Securities in Vancouver.

4/19/1999  Auto Makers to Test Fuel-Cell Vehicles in State by Donald W. Nauss - L.A. Times (California)

"This is a huge step," said Jason Mark, transportation analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "This takes fuel cells beyond research and development and toward commercialization." ...in addition to the auto companies and Ballard, the demonstration program would also involve the oil industry and state government. Texaco, Shell and Arco are expected to make a commitment to provide liquid hydrogen for the 45 test vehicles. They also are likely to commit research dollars to the development of a hydrogen or methanol fueling infrastructure. The California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission will also be involved, though their exact involvement could not be learned.

4/19/1999  Fuel-Cell Vehicles Slated for Tests - Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)

DETROIT: Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler are expected to announce tomorrow that they will each put as many as 15 fuel-cell vehicles on California roads beginning next year. The program is aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of the technology considered most likely to supplant the internal combustion engine within decades. ...The announcement comes as the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to issue new pollution rules that are likely to require automakers to greatly reduce tailpipe emissions.

4/19/1999  Toyota, GM to Make Fuel-Cell Cars - Washington Post/AP (Washington, D.C.)

The new venture will involve research and development of electric, hybrid electric and fuel-cell technology. Hybrid electric vehicles typically combine an electric motor with other power systems. The deal is to last through 2004, the year that GM, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG have said they plan to be ready to produce fuel-cell vehicles.

4/18/1999  Ballard to Demonstrate Fuel Cell Vehicle in California - Reuters

The vehicle, based on the Mercedes A-Class compact, uses a fuel cell to drive an electric motor.

4/18/1999  Fuel Cell Vehicle Being Developed - Washington Post/AP (Washington, D.C.)

DaimlerChrysler unveiled a compact fuel cell car last month called NECAR 4. The car is powered by liquid hydrogen, drives like a normal automobile, has a top speed of 90 mph and can go 280 miles without refueling. Ford Motor Co. officials said they expect to have a drivable version of its five-seat fuel-cell car, the P2000, sometime this spring. California has decreed that zero emission vehicles must represent 10 percent of a company's total vehicle sales in the state by 2003.

4/17/1999  Ballard Fuel Cell to Hit California Streets - Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada))

Automotive sources in the United States confirm that California plans to launch a two-year pilot test of Ballard's fuel cell technology that will initially involve 10 cars and five buses. By the year 2003, the consortium -- which also includes Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Atlantic Richfield Co. -- plans to expand its tests to include at least 40 fuel cell cars and 40 buses. ...Ballard spokeswoman Debbie Roman said the company isn't prepared to comment on the joint venture until details are announced Tuesday by California Governor Gray Davis.

4/16/1999  Electrolysis-Powered Car by Josef Herbert - ABC/AP

Two scientists at the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., have developed a one-step device that uses solar power to convert water into a hydrogen fuel. This could substantially reduce the cost of using solar power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules, a process known as electrolysis, said John Turner, a chemist at the laboratory, who outlined his research in Friday's issue of Science magazine. In an interview, Turner said it likely will take years of research and a greater political and economic commitment for solar-hydrogen fuel to become commercially acceptable. This newest development "isn't the magic bullet that gets us there" but is a "nice scientific accomplishment" that shows the solar power can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen at a cheaper cost and with less energy loss. ...And the cost of producing hydrogen also is reduced to about a fourth of what it is in the two-step process. Still, the process is "three or four times as expensive" as the steam method used from getting hydrogen from natural gas, he acknowledged. But hydrogen fuel cell advocates say such a cost reduction is solar-hydrogen fuel technology is significant.

4/16/1999  Did Germans Take Over American Icon? - Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)

"We should have never called this `a merger among equals,' " said Bud Liebler, DaimlerChrysler vice president in charge of marketing and communications. "It wasn't a 'merger among equals.' It was an acquisition, and by calling it something else, we confused a lot of people on both sides of the Atlantic." ...Important news events, such as DaimlerChrysler's March unveiling of its hydrogen fuel-cell car, are led by Germans, including Schrempp. If Eaton is in attendance, as he was at the Washington event, he usually plays a secondary or ceremonial role.

4/15/1999  Man Killed in Slidell Accident Identified - Sun Herald (Mississippi)

[The] car went the wrong way on Interstate 10 Tuesday and slammed into a tanker truck, St. Tammany Parish Coroner Ted Brustowicz said. The car burst into flames, burning it so badly that police weren't even sure of its model at first. Both lanes of I-10 were shut for 10 hours after the 9:30 a.m. accident so authorities could unload hydrogen from the tanker. ...The car burned so hot that some of the liquid hydrogen vented out of the escape valve.

4/14/1999  Explosion Causes $80,000 In Damages - The Arizona Republic

A hydrogen supply line exploded at a Tempe industrial plant Tuesday morning, causing an estimated $80,000 in damages, authorities said. About 20 employees from Heraeus Amersil Inc. were evacuated from the building, near the Loops 101 and 202 freeways, when the line burst. No injuries were reported. The explosion scattered spot fires throughout the plant, which were later put out by Tempe firefighters.

4/12/1999 Finding a Future for Fusion By Linda A. Johnson - ABC News/Associated Press

Proponents say harnessing the power released when the atoms fuse will one day provide a clean energy source far safer than today’s commercial nuclear fission reactors, which split apart large, radioactive atoms. The fuel, hydrogen atoms removed from water, is plentiful. In addition, the fusion process can’t cause a “meltdown” reaction and doesn’t contribute to air pollution, acid rain or the greenhouse effect.

4/10/1999  Hydrogen Leak Forces University Evacuation - St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

A classroom building at the University of Minnesota was evacuated for about 30 minutes Friday afternoon after a leaking canister of hydrogen gas was discovered in the basement. ...Judson Freed, assistant director of emergency management for the university, said the gas leak was small but the building was evacuated as a precaution. Hydrogen, though highly explosive, is a common gas used in many engineering laboratory programs, he said. "Someone apparently heard it hissing and did the right thing by calling 911,'' Freed said. "After that, we followed standard procedures.''

4/10/1999  Plant's Gas Release Called 'Near Miss' by Edie Gross - St. Petersburg Times (Flordia)

In the early morning hours, the plant on the Anclote River began releasing hydrogen from one of its generators, a routine procedure to prepare the generator for maintenance. ...Florida Power failed to warn them it was releasing hydrogen. So employees who arrived at work about 7 a.m. say they smoked cigarettes, welded, burned through steel with acetylene torches and buffed steel for hours, creating plenty of sparks and the potential for an explosion.

4/9/1999   Hydrogen Release Caused Flordia Blast by Pat Leisner - Detroit News/AP

The hydrogen gas was inside the generator when contractors prepared to do routine maintenance on the machine Thursday, Mike Mahoney of Tampa Electric Co. said. The gas, which is contained in a closed, pressurized system, must be removed before maintenance is attempted, but the generator still had hydrogen in it when it was taken off line, Mahoney said. ``And without a directive from a manager, someone opened the lid at the top of the housing of the blade. Hydrogen detonated because it was under high pressure,'' he said.

4/8/1999  Tampa Power Plant Blast Kills 2, Injures 50 - CNN

Investigators say a hydrogen gas leak may have been the cause of the blast, which was heard miles away and tore a huge hole in a wall at the Tampa Electric Co.'s Gannon power plant at Port Sutton, on the edge of Tampa Bay.

4/8/1999   Blast at Power Plant Kills Two, Injures 49 - USA Today

The blast came as a generator was being tested following routine maintenance, and a hydrogen gas leak was suspected, authorities said. Hydrogen gas is used as a coolant at the coal-fired plant.

4/8/1999  Small-Scale Nuclear Fusion Wows Physicists by Alan Boyle - MSNBC

Ditmire and his colleagues at the lab reported that each laser blast produced about 10,000 neutrons with a characteristic energy signature, confirming that fusion had indeed taken place. The unconfined plasma quickly dissipates, but the marvel is that a highly efficient reaction can be achieved with apparatus that fits on a 4-by-11-foot lab bench.

4/7/1999 DCH Technology Exhibit Photos, National Hydrogen Association, Vienna, VA by Kent Klook  - enotsder web

4/5/1999  Widespread Growth for Hydrogen From a Range of Applications by Robert Brown - Chemical Market Reporter

SRI International, a consultancy based in Menlo Park, Calif., says that during the next five years, consumption in the oils and fats market will increase among facilities that produce hydrogen captively as well as ones that purchase gaseous hydrogen from on-site facilities. During the same period, however, consumption in the liquid merchant market is projected to decrease. In the future, hydrogen can expect a boost from fuel cells that use hydrogen, either in its pure state or through hydrogen-bearing gases such as methane, to make electricity. Although they are still in the early stages of development, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Honda are all striving to build cars powered by fuel cells.

4/2/1999  Promise, and Pitfalls, of Fuel Cells by Michelle Krebs - The New York Times

Despite their promise, fuel cells still pose big hurdles, and they are likely to be confined to commercial fleets, at least initially. Cost is crucial. DaimlerChrysler executives estimate that fuel cells remain 10 times too expensive; the cells for an average-size car cost about $30,000, compared with only $3,000 for a conventional engine. Still, that is much improved. Only five years ago, fuel cells were at least 50 times more expensive than they are today. ... The greatest challenge, however, is the lack of an infrastructure for producing, storing and distributing hydrogen. The fuel is available in almost infinite quantities, but had to be stored in liquid form on the Necar 4 at about 430 degrees below zero. Only one public filling station for liquefied and gaseous hydrogen exists -- at the airport in Munich, Germany. The lack of infrastructure has led automakers to consider using more common fuels, particularly methanol, to produce hydrogen through the use of an on-board reformer. But a reformer adds even more weight, takes precious space and adds another 25 percent to the cost.

4/1/1999  Mixing Radiation, Minerals, Toxic Waste Could Be Cleanup Boon -- Or Kaboom - Northwestern University

The bad news is that 177 huge underground tanks on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington, which hold 54 million gallons of high-level radioactive and chemical waste, may face an increasing risk of rupture or explosion as volatile gases, including hydrogen and perhaps methane, are generated as the chemicals are broken down by minerals in the tanks. ...Of the 177 tanks on the site, 70 have already leaked about one million gallons of waste into the soil and groundwater, threatening the Columbia River 12 miles away. Hanford, whose only activity now is storage and cleanup, is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.

3/31/1999  Ford Conducts Alternative Fuel Training Course, Certifies SunLine Transit to Repair Electric Vehicles - Sunline Transit/Business Wire

Ford Motor Company manufactures more than 97 percent of alternative fuel vehicles sold in North America. Ford leads the industry by providing 11 alternative fuel vehicles, including the zero emission Electric Ranger. SunLine's mission is to provide and expand innovative public transit services for the Coachella Valley with a commitment to excellence and environmental leadership. In 1994, it became the first public transit system in the nation to purchase an entire fleet of compressed natural gas-powered buses. Besides its role as an employer and transporter of people, SunLine actually spurred what has become a significant Valley industry -- improving air quality. Ford's alternative fuel fleet training course will ensure SunLine technicians meet requirements to repair Electric Ford Rangers. SunLine currently uses Electric Rangers as maintenance vehicles. After completing the training, SunLine will be designated as a Ford Maintnenance Service Center for electric vehicles.    

3/31/1999  No Starring Role For Chrysler By Warren Brown - Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)

...according to many sources within DaimlerChrysler, there now is little doubt the German half of the company is in charge: Nine of the 11 executive slots below the rank of co-chairmen are filled by Germans. Important news events, such as DaimlerChrysler's March unveiling of its hydrogen fuel-cell car, are led by Germans, including Schrempp. If Eaton is in attendance, as he was at the Washington event, he usually plays a secondary or ceremonial role.

3/29/1999  Hydrogen Cells Ready Off-the-Shelf - Electronics Times

Ballard Power Systems is said to be the world leader in hydrogen fuel cells, and has supplied most of the major car manufacturers with products. It has recently acknowledged the need to develop portable fuel cells for recreational, remote and emergency power markets, and presented a 100W demonstrator to the California Air Resources Board last November.

3/29/1999  A Mercedes with a Future by William J. Cook- U.S. News

The hand-built fuel cells in the prototype car, made by Ballard Power Systems, cost a stunning $350,000. But Ballard's CEO, Firoz Rasul, says that in mass production, the cells for the prototype car could cost between $1,400 and $3,500–roughly the cost of a regular internal combustion engine.

3/28/1999  Fuel Cells Could Change Power Biz by John K. Wiley - Associated Press

There is enormous potential for residential fuel cells worldwide, said Peter Bos, director of the Fuel Cell Commercialization Group, a San Mateo, Calif., consortium of U.S. and Canadian utilities. High initial manufacturing costs and relatively short operating lives have been the major obstacles to widespread use of fuel cells, a non-polluting means of generating power. As unit costs come down and quality improves, electricity produced by fuel cells will be available for the same price -- or less -- than that supplied by utilities through traditional transmission lines, Bos says. ``If you have a choice of a small, independent source of electricity, guess which one you will choose?''

3/26/1999  Hydrogen-Powered Forklift Wins the International WESTEC Contest - Arizona State University

"The emission test showed that operating a hydrogen-powered forklift engine actually cleans the air instead of polluting the air we breathe," said Don Kelley, professor in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. "It's so clean that you could actually safely breathe the air and drink the water that is produced by the hydrogen engine." As Grand Prize and Best of Show winners, the team was awarded a Pentium III Gateway 2000 computer and manufacturing software valued at more than $47,000. In addition, each of the 16 students attending the contest won a CADKEY software package. The contest judges were executives from major U.S. manufacturing firms. The evaluation criteria included design quality, creativity, complexity, product quality, evidence of teamwork, safety considerations, communications skills and the overall impact of the project. Boeing Helicopter Division donated the forklift used for the contest and the Phoenix Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers sponsored some of the travel expenses for students.

3/25/1999  Designs Ease the Ravages of Age by Donald W. Knauss - L.A. Times (California)

BMW will put the small fuel cell in a 7-Series sedan that uses a traditional internal-combustion engine fueled by liquid hydrogen. BMW has been researching hydrogen-powered vehicles for 20 years. DaimlerChrysler sees BMW's move as grandstanding and a desperate effort to grab some "green" attention: Klaus-Dieter Voerhinger, a member of DaimlerChrysler's board of management, offered this dig: "They kept away from this technology for a long, long time. I guess their opinion is changing."

3/24/1999  Usha's Wafer Plant to Go On Stream - The Hindu (New Delhi, India)

The plant will manufacture the basic raw material required to produce silicon devices and solar cells. The company plans to invest Rs. 110 crores in this venture that also includes a 15 MW hydel power plant and a hydrogen plant. The company is the largest Government recognised R & D house and export house of semi-conductor components.

3/24/1999  Canadian Steel Makers Join Bid for Lighter Cars by Gilbert Le Gras - Reuters

The main driver behind the automakers' push for lighter autos are higher fuel efficiency targets such as the 80 miles per gallon target of the U.S. Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) or Europe's so-called ``three-litre car,'' a vehicle that consumes only three litres of fuel to cover 100 kilometres (60 miles). The prototype vehicle that comes closest to meeting that target is DaimlerChrysler AG's hydrogen fuel cell car that uses 3.2 litres of fuel to cover 100 km.

3/20/1999  [ DCH Technology] Engineers Follow Their Noses by Ben Sullivan - Daily News Los Angeles (California)

At the heart of the DCH game plan is the sensor chip itself. Developed at Sandia, a U.S. Department of Energy research lab, it consists of a thin layer of palladium nickel alloy sandwiched on top of an integrated circuit. When it comes into contact with hydrogen atoms, even at minute levels, the alloy spits protons directly into the integrated circuit's logic cells. Using that same basic technology, DCH has developed a hand-held device for hunting down leaks, a model for installation on hydrogen-powered devices, and a version for use in permanent locales where hydrogen might seep out, such as at a nuclear power plant or waste-treatment center. Together, the three applications have a potential market of $200 million, the company estimates.

3/19/1999  Ballard Clearing Development Hurdles by Steve Mertl - Canadian Press

The futuristic hydrogen-powered car DaimlerChrysler’s executives drove onto a Washington, D.C. stage this week carried the Mercedes three-pointed star. But its debut helped boost the star of Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems Inc., which makes the fuel cell that powers the five-passenger NECAR 4. ...Under the company’s cross-ownership arrangement with its automotive partners, it is also solely responsible for developing the fuel-cell stacks that make the electricity. Ford and DaimlerChrysler, through subsidiaries jointly owned with Ballard, work on the specialized electric motors and subsystems for passenger cars, and will build the finished models.

3/19/1999  Fueled Up for Electric Future by James R. Healey - USA Today

"Dynamic driving performance" was a stretch. Unlike most electrics, NECAR 4 felt sluggish accelerating from a stop or slow speed. The DaimlerChrysler rig depends on compressed air to fuel the reaction that generates electricity. And the compressor took a moment to spool up. Under way, NECAR 4 did better, hustling properly to survive in suburban traffic. A video crew chasing the machine in a conventional minivan later commented that NECAR 4 forced the van to work to keep up.

3/18/1999  DCX Fuel-Cell Car Ready for the Road by Dale Jewett - The Detroit News (Ohio)

DaimlerChrysler chose the A class because of the challenge of fitting the fuel cell equipment into a small car, said Klaus-Dieter Voehringer, a DaimlerChrysler technical executive. The A class is constructed with a sandwich floor for structural strength, but that construction also provides about a 7-inch gap in which to install fuel cell components. While fuel cell componentry has been greatly miniaturized over the past five years - DaimlerChrysler's first fuel-cell vehicle was a commercial van with room for only a driver and passenger - engineers were still forced to take up half of the A class' storage area for the hydrogen storage tank.

3/18/1999  Taking Fuel-Cell Technology Further - Los Angeles Times (California)

"This is really a big step forward," said Ferdinand Panik, head of DaimlerChrysler's fuel-cell project. "This car is really in the form that we could put in customer hands." ...DaimlerChrysler is not alone in pursuing fuel cells. Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. all plan limited production of fuel-cell vehicles by 2004. They appear to be chasing DaimlerChrysler, which is planning to launch demonstration fuel-cell fleets in the U.S., Europe and Japan as early as next year.

3/17/1999  Natural Gas House at Machern Now Operating on Fuel Cell Alone - HyWeb (Germany)

On March 3rd the "Natural Gas House" of the gas utility Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG) in the city of Machern (near Leipzig) was disconnected from the electrical grid. For the next six months family Ringel (couple with two children) will be supplied with electricity by a fuel cell in the basement only. Saxony's minster for economical affairs, Kajo Schommer, said on this occasion: "We face the begin of a new century. Our world is changing. Saxony needs investments and innovations to prevail in the competition. This is in my eyes an important step to promote this technology."

3/17/1999  DaimlerChrysler Introduces Car Powered by Fuel Cells - CNN

"It's about 50 percent more fuel-efficient than vehicles of today," said Bernard Robertson, a vice president at DaimlerChrysler, which has built the prototype vehicle known as NECAR 4. "It's totally clean. Absolutely zero emissions except water, which you can drink. And it leaves room for all the passengers inside."

3/17/1999  DaimlerChrysler Unveils Concept Car - AP/Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)

Based on the Mercedes-Benz A-class compact car sold in Europe, the NECAR4 accelerates easily from 0 to 30 mph, can go as fast as 90 mph and travels 280 miles without refueling... DaimlerChrysler's Ferdinand Panik said NECAR 4 was a major breakthrough because the fuel cell technology was small enough to fit in a compact car. The fuel cells were stacked underneath the car's floorboard and the liquid hydrogen tank took up some space in its small trunk.

3/17/1999  H₂Go - BMW's Hydrogen Technology by Larkin Hill - The Auto Channel

Safety is a primary issue when dealing with a flammable product, especially when it involves occupied automobiles that travel at high speeds. When the topic of hydrogen is brought up in conversation, the issue of combustion arises. One prominent historical event often recalled is the Hindenburg disaster, which imprinted in many people's minds a direct correlation between hydrogen and explosions. The misconception is that hydrogen is more explosive than traditional fuels. However, nothing could be further from the truth. To assuage possible misunderstandings, BMW conducted numerous tests to insure that a situation of explosive levels would be near impossible. Severe crashes were done where the hydrogen tank was severely damaged or punctured, results showed that the liquid hydrogen simply dissipated in the air. As for the combustion levels, hydrogen holds the same rating as conventional fuels.

3/16/1999  DaimlerChrysler Set to Unveil New Fuel Cell Car - Reuters/Yahoo!

DaimlerChrysler AG on Wednesday is scheduled to introduce the next generation of its fuel cell-powered passenger car, part of the race by automakers to develop a cleaner burning alternative to the internal combustion engine. The company said the unveiling will be made in Washington D.C. by Juergen Schrempp and Robert Eaton, co-chairmen of the world's fifth largest automaker.

3/15/1999  Auto Makers Race to Sell Cars Powered by Fuel Cells - The Wall Street Journal/MSNBC

Ballard Power Systems Inc., of which Mr. Rasul is chief executive officer, is the leading developer of the automotive fuel cell, a device that converts hydrogen into electricity to power a car or truck. Not long ago, the fuel cell was dismissed as an environmentalist's pipe dream that wouldn't be road-ready anytime soon. Now it is the subject of a heavily financed research-and-development race among some of the world's biggest auto makers, several of whom have pledged to roll out commercially viable fuel-cell-powered vehicles within five years.... In January, Honda's president said he hoped to have a fuel-cell car ready to sell by 2003. Not to be outdone, BMW said last month that it will be the first to put a fuel-cell car on the road -- next year. Unlike the other proposed vehicles, however, BMW's will retain the internal-combustion engine, using fuel cells only to bolster the electrical system for such conveniences as air-conditioning and heating when the ignition is turned off. BMW is buying its fuel cells from a Ballard competitor, International Fuel Cells, a unit of United Technologies Corp. based in South Windsor, Conn. GM, meanwhile, unveiled a fuel-cell powered Opel minivan last October, then said in December that up to 10% of its Opel cars will be powered by fuel cells by 2010.

3/14/1999  [ Lockheed Martin] X-33, VentureStar Projects, Facing High Hurdles, Slowly Taking Shape - Flordia Today

A manufacturing snafu with one of the X-33's two lightweight hydrogen fuel tanks... Lightweight fuel tanks made of graphite composite materials - rather than heavier aluminum alloys - would cut the weight of the ship, and in turn, launch costs. The inner wall of the tank is made of four large sections of graphite reinforced plastic rather than heavy metal alloys. But two sections were damaged during a special heating process crucial to bonding them to the tank's honeycomb frame...The X-33 is only half the size and one-ninth the weight of VentureStar. Building the full-scale spaceship will require the company to manufacture... fuel tanks twice the size of the X-33's, which will require the company to perfect a new way to manufacture them. ...there isn't a heating facility in the world large enough to handle the tanks. And the facilities, essentially huge ovens, are crucial to bonding the graphite walls of the tanks to their honeycomb frames....The fuel cell system used by space shuttles is too heavy to do the job for the VentureStar fleet. 

3/13/1999  University of Hawaii Chemist Piques Car Makers’ Interest - Honolulu Star Bulletin (Hawaii)

Craig Jensen has been named the "1999 Research Success Story" by the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel and the U.S. Department of Energy for his work with a team of about 10 researchers. ...His group has found a cheaper, more efficient method of storing hydrogen for use on-board vehicles. "...we found a way of getting the hydrogen off [metal hydrides] without putting very much energy in." They found a new catalyst that will release hydrogen at a rapid rate below a temperature of 100 degrees because that is what is needed for a fuel cell, Jensen said. Jensen will discuss his work at the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel's annual meeting April 6-7 in Washington, D.C.

3/13/1999  Gee-Whiz Idea Needs Old Bridge - Press Herald (Portland, Maine)

The Hydrogen Center, a nonprofit group, wants to harness currents in the Kennebec River and set up solar panels on the bridge's upper deck. It would use power from those sources to split sea water into hydrogen and oxygen, and generate electricity from the hydrogen for use in municipal buses or at local businesses.

3/10/1999  Bend Firm's Fuel-Cell Device May Offer Power Alternative - The Oregonian

Northwest Power began experimenting with far less costly membranes, ones about 10 percent of the price of the most effective membranes. But these cheap membranes also allowed some contaminants to pass through with the hydrogen molecules. The idea was to produce a contaminated form of hydrogen and then purify that by a chemical scrubbing reaction. The membrane and the chemical cleansing processes were already available and in wide use throughout the industry. But no one was using them in tandem. Northwest Power, essentially, simply figured out how to combine them in a small unit.

3/9/1999 [ DCH Technology] DCH Technology, Inc. and AlliedSignal - Defense Systems Daily (U.K.)

DCH Technology, Inc. and AlliedSignal have completed a multi-year Strategic Alliance Agreement in the areas of gas sensors, control electronics and hydrogen energy technologies. AlliedSignal will be developing aerospace systems which integrate DCH technology for missions ranging from active corrosion control and nuclear safety to the development and integration of hydrogen powered vessels. Joint business development activities are underway.

3/9/1999 [ DCH Technology] Got Gas? Chernobyl Did - Santa Clarita Valley Signal (California)

A nasty buildup of hydrogen gas may not have been the direct cause of the meltdown at Chernobyl, but it certainly didn't help matters when the former Soviet nuclear power plant exploded and spread radiation for miles around. To prevent that sort of disaster in the future, the Russian government has enlisted the aid of Westinghouse to retrofit the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant with the latest technologies — some of which come from a firm in the Valencia Industrial Center... "Hydrogen is explosive at 4 percent (concentration in air)," said William L. Firestone, Ph.D., president of DCH Technology. "If it reaches 1 percent you might want to know about it." An economy model of the hydrogen sensor could go from the drawing board to the living room by the end of the year as well. DCH is developing a hand-held model intended to retail for under $100 for use in the average home or office. It doesn't end there. A few weeks ago DCH built a prototype for a low-wattage fuel cell after securing an exclusive license from Los Alamos National Laboratory. "Hydrogen is the cleanest fuel in the world," Firestone said. "When you burn it all you get is heat, electricity and water. It's the lightest and most plentiful element on earth. Hydrogen is the fuel of the future."

3/8/1999  Green BMW - ENN

BMW AG says it will be the first automaker to put a small fleet of cars on the road utilizing hydrogen fuel cell technology. The company is fitting an unspecified number of  7 Series sedans with fuel cells from International Fuel Cells. The configuration is an unusual hybrid. The vehicle will run on a hydrogen combustion engine; the fuel cell will power the car's on-board electrical system. BMW AG will have the sedans ready for display at next year's global EXPO 2000 "Clean Energy" project in Hanover, Germany. After that, it "could be launched on the market for the public."

3/8/1999  [Geoffery Ballard] In a Hurry to Prove the "Pistonheads" Wrong by Margot Hornblower - Time "Heroes for the Planet"

With bravado Ballard predicts that fuel-cell cars will become economical by 2010 and "the internal-combustion engine will go the way of the horse. It will be a curiosity to my grandchildren." If Ballard, a trim 66-year-old with an unflinching gaze, sounds cocky, it may be because he has finally won respect at the end of a long and winding career.

3/8/1999 Canadan Fuel Fell Firm Driven by Green Power - Reuters

Along for the ride on the Vancouver bus every day is Kevin Hutton, a field technician for DBB Fuel Cell Engines Inc., a joint venture among Ballard Power, DaimlerChrysler AG  and Ford Motor Co. When the bus stalled at a stop in Port Coquitlam, he made a note on his clipboard and told the driver Scott how to restart the bus. The process is like rebooting a computer and the engine came back with an instant-on quick start. The stall delayed the trip by about two minutes. ``There are 1,700 different functions the computer is checking and it shuts down the bus automatically if, say, the oil temperature varies,'' said Hutton. ``It doesn't happen often.''

3/6/1999  Utah State Telescope In Trouble - Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)

The door is held to the satellite by three explosive bolts, and they were not supposed to detonate until tonight so the telescope could begin making observations. The door is part of the WIRE "cryostat" -- a four-foot-long, thermos-like container that holds the telescope and cools it with solid hydrogen ice chilled to 446 degrees below zero Fahrenheit... If the door prematurely separated from the satellite, it would allow the frozen hydrogen to vaporize, and escaping gas could explain why the spacecraft was spinning...

3/5/1999  Electric Vehicles Charging Ahead - Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

Ford recently bought a majority stake of the Norwegian electric car maker Pivco Industries, which produces a lightweight, plastic-body two-passenger vehicle with the improbable name of Th!nk. Ford stated that it plans to help Pivco market the Th!nk throughout Scandinavia, while developing a version for the North American market. Other automakers are also making forays into the field. Earlier this year DaimlerChrysler announced it plans to start production of cars and trucks featuring fuel-cell technology, while Honda Motor Co. will launch its own hybrid electric-gasoline car this fall.

3/5/1999  Galaxy-gazing Mission in Peril - MSNBC

Reports circulating via the Internet speculated that during the spacecraft’s early maneuvers, the cover over the telescope was somehow released — something that wasn’t supposed to happen until Sunday. If earthlight or sunlight entered the sensitive telescope, that would have activated the solid-hydrogen cooling system unexpectedly, leading to the venting of gas.

3/5/1999  Research Satellite Out of Control - Associated Press

The Wide-Field Infrared Explorer was spinning completely around each second. The mishap is apparently due to the thruster-like action of hydrogen gas venting from a system needed to keep the satellite's telescope extremely cold.

3/5/1999  Plug Power to Get Research Grant - Times Union

Plug Power LLC was one of 16 organizations across the country selected by the federal Department of Energy to share $116 million in research funding. ...The company has a parallel project, researching the ways fuel cells could be used in automobiles, Mousaw said. But that product is harder to build because a car needs so much power in such a compact space, he said. Accordingly, the company has said it plans to commercialize a fuel cell for homes or buildings first.

3/4/1999  Ballard in Deal with Johnson Matthey - National Post (Canada)

The Burnaby, B.C.-based company yesterday signed a letter of intent with Johnson Matthey PLC to develop and supply catalysts and catalyzed components for fuel cell engines. Under the agreement, Johnson Matthey will be Ballard's exclusive development partner for catalysts that purify the hydrogen gas used by fuel cell engines to generate electric power and for several other catalytic components in DaimlerBenz's ground breaking engine system.

3/1/1999  Iceland, Shell, DaimlerChrysler, Norsk Hydro Form Company to Develop Hydrogen Economy - H&FCL

Dr. Ferdinand Panik, senior vice president of DaimlerChrysler and head of the company's fuel cell project expressed gratitude and "enthusiasm for being able to participate in this project. " Speaking on behalf of DaimlerChrysler "but actually also on behalf of the Fuel Cell Alliance consisting of DaimlerChrysler, Ballard Power Systems and Ford Motor Company with whom we are jointly developing fuel cell technology" Panik added, "this is a great opportunity for industry and government to create an innovative and future-oriented program."

3/1/1999   Will Developing Countries Spur Fuel Cell Surge? by Rajindar Singh, Membrane, Inc. - Chemical Engineering Progress

Developing countries, because of acute power shortage and/or high energy cost, offer the best opportunities for commercializing fuel cells.  In nations with large economies and/or large populations, fuel cells are ideally suited for on-site power generation in both urban and rural areas, for providing power to CPI plants, for providing back-up power in homes, and for operating inner city busses, while virtually eliminating air emissions.   Eventually centrally-located large-scale fuel cell power plants could become a critical source of power generation.

2/1/1999   Exploring Options for CO₂ Capture and Management by Carola Hanisch - American Chemical Society

The most prominent new development project in power generation technology is under way in Norway. The huge energy, chemicals, and metals conglomerate Norsk Hydro is planning a 1300-megawatt (MW) installed capacity hydrogen power plant. Almost three times the power-generating capacity of a standard European power plant, it will produce 10% of Norway's electricity. The facility will be built at Karmoy, on the country's west coast. The Norsk Hydro project will produce hydrogen from natural gas in a reforming process, which is a technology similar to that used for ammonia production. CO₂ is produced as a waste product. It will be separated using a conventional chemical absorption process and then pumped into the offshore Grane oilfield for use in enhanced oil-recovery operations. Over a period of 15 years, 4-5 million metric tons of CO₂ will be injected at the disposal site. The remaining hydrogen-rich gas stream will serve as a fuel in a combined-cycle power plant, producing electricity without emission of any CO₂. The main emission of the power station will be water vapor. Some technical adjustments of existing turbines will be performed to accommodate this use of the hydrogen-rich fuel.

1/13/1999  Wind Power Versus Plutonium by Marc Fioravanti - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Given that hydrogen is a non-polluting energy carrier that can become part of a sustainable energy system, significant resources should be devoted to the commercialization of this technology, particularly in transportation. Countries, such as Japan, that claim to have energy self-sufficiency as a priority should incorporate hydrogen into their analyses of energy systems. The use of fuel cells in motor vehicles is being intensively investigated by automobile manufacturers. Efforts by governments to develop hydrogen technology and infrastructure, including use of hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles, would help promote a number of goals simultaneously, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and transition to renewable energy sources.

1/4/1999  Turning Green by Tara Baukus Mello - The Car Connection

Environmentally friendly automobiles are a hot topic at L.A. Auto Show. Ford’s Alternative Power Source Technology Research Laboratory is focusing on the development of fuel cell-powered vehicles. Bradford Bates, manager of the laboratory, says Ford believes that fuel cells can be produced less expensively and therefore will be more acceptable to customers. Mark Amstock, manager of National Alternative Fuel Planning at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., points out that Toyota has already sold 18,000 units of its hybrid electric vehicle, the Prius, in Japan, and "a bunch" more units in the Detroit area.

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