Hydrogen News - September and October 1999
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10/31/1999  Global Economy Slowly Cuts Use of High-Carbon Energy by William K. Stevens - New York Times

Now analysts say that natural gas, lighter still in carbon, may be entering its heyday, and that the day of hydrogen -- providing a fuel with no carbon at all, by definition -- may at last be about to dawn. As a result, the experts estimate, the world's economy today burns less than two-thirds as much carbon per unit of energy produced as it did in 1860. In the United States, they estimate, the trend toward lower-carbon fuels combined with greater energy efficiency has, since 1950, reduced by about half the amount of carbon spewed out for each unit of economic production. But because economic growth and population growth have been so rapid over the decades, overall atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have steadily risen, to the point that the concentrations may well have doubled by the year 2100. ...Until recently, "the hydrogen option was seen as rather distant," said Ged R. Davis, an executive of Shell International in London who analyzes such questions for Royal Dutch/Shell, one of the world's largest energy companies. "Now it is looking closer, perhaps over the next decade or two," Davis added. "Most of the energy and car companies are looking at this rather seriously." Shell itself has established a hydrogen subsidiary. In the nearer term, hydrogen would be used in fuel cells for cars, trucks and industrial plants, just as it already provides power for orbiting spacecraft. But ultimately, hydrogen could also provide a general carbon-free fuel.

10/30/1999 Fuel for the Future by Michael Parrish - Environmental News Network

Fuel cells can use various sources of hydrogen, including a plain old tank of compressed gas. But methanol, a liquid usually produced from natural gas, is a much more efficient way to store hydrogen. This is why the first wave of fuel cells in cars will likely use what's called an indirect methanol fuel cell, in which the methanol goes through a mechanism called a reformer, which extracts the hydrogen. But this new direct method which could be commercially available within five or six years, would use different, lighter stacks of plates that eliminate the need for a reformer. So this proposed next generation of fuel cells could be smaller, lighter — and most important, down-scalable. "You could put them into consumer electronic products," says Todd R. Marsh, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based DTI Energy, a small technology company. Marsh sees near-term use of fuel cells making sense in lawn mowers, snowblowers, jet skis and other mobile devices that currently add to pollution — both with noise and air emissions — and that don't work all that well on batteries.

10/30/1999  Vehicles Blamed for a Greater Share of Smog by Marla Cone - Los Angeles Times (California)

Cars and trucks are responsible for a much larger share of California's smog than previously documented--a revelation that may force air quality officials to redouble their efforts to clean up vehicle emissions, according to new data released Friday. The tonnage of smog-forming gases that waft from vehicles in the Los Angeles Basin is two to three times greater than the California Air Resources Board had been estimating, according to a new emissions inventory developed by the state agency. ...The new inventory does not mean that smog is worse than experts believed. Instead, it means that vehicles are responsible for a bigger share of the problem, and that industry, consumer products and other sources of pollution are now blamed for a smaller proportion. ...."The implications of this are pretty clear that we have to go much further with our motor vehicle controls," said Roland Hwang, senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group that has pushed for stronger emission controls on cars. "It clearly puts more pressure on the motor vehicle sector to clean up." ...The increase in the emissions estimate is especially striking in the Los Angeles Basin. Here, the air board has been underestimating the hydrocarbons from vehicles by 113% and nitrogen oxides by 84%. One reason that the old inventory was skewed was that the board had not been factoring in cars that were in the process of being registered or that were being driven without proper registration. That amounts to 4.5 million cars statewide, increasing the total number included in the inventory to about 26 million. The added cars--which tend to be older--were responsible for 20% of the increase in hydrocarbons reported in the new inventory, the air board says.

10/28/1999  Anti-Smog Chief Predicts Significant Role for Fuel-Cell Vehicles by Steve Lawrence - The Oregonian/AP

"I feel very optimistic," Air Resources Board chairman Alan Lloyd said Wednesday after speaking at a conference on fuel cell technology. Fuel cells, developed for use in space craft, produce electricity through a chemical reaction involving hydrogen and oxygen that provides power along with little or no pollution. One key factor that may be encouraging the companies is a state regulation requiring that 10 percent of the new cars sold in California starting in 2003 emit little or no pollution. Glen Rambach, a research engineer at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, was even more optimistic about the potential of fuel cells, predicting a "decade of the fuel cell." "Sit tight, buckle up and hang on," he told conference participants. "I think it's going to be one heck of a ride over the next 10 years."

10/28/1999  [ DCH Technology] Device Will be Mini Power Plant for Home by Peronet Despeignes - Detroit News

"Hydrogen fuel cells could have as big an impact as the computer chip had in the field of information technology," said David Haberman, head of DCH [Technology] Inc., a California fuel cell-components maker. ...The possibilities have seduced heavyweights Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors Corp. They've offered new plans in recent months to adopt and support the product. ....Fuel cell technology also provides an appealing option as deregulation forces utilities to become more efficient. Fuel cells can be a cheaper way of supplying power to customers in remote areas than power lines. In fact, it opens up a huge opportunity to electrify large swaths of underdeveloped regions abroad.

10/28/1999  Here Comes the Sun Battery - The Hindu (India)

Already several major car companies, including Daimler-Benz, have launched prototype vehicles that run on hydrogen. But the catch is that hydrogen does not come for free. To extract it from water, you have to put some energy in. So it looks like a zero-sum game: you have to invest at least as much energy in making the fuel as you get back from burning it. Not only does this mean that, somewhere along the line, onventional fuels must be burned; it also means that hydrogen is costly. It can be extracted from water using electricity, but then costs around ten times more than natural gas with the equivalent energy content, and three times more than petroleum. The ideal solution would be to use the `free' source of energy that bathes the planet every day: sunlight. Scientists are searching for a`photocatalyst' that will do the job of both absorbing the sun's rays and using the energy to persuade water to fall apart.

10/24/1999  Tokyo Show Targets Youth, Environment by David Holthaus- Scripps Howard/Detroit News

Most manufacturers are highlighting prototype vehicles that don't rely solely on gasoline for fuel. Many featured so-called "hybrid" vehicles that use a combination of gasoline and electric power, and fuel-cell vehicles that use electric power produced by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen. ...Ford Motor Co. sold itself as an eco-friendly company with the futuristic FC5. The concept electric vehicle is equipped with a fuel cell. "We believe fuel cells have a very viable future," said Jac Nasser, Ford's chief executive officer. The car will go into low-volume production in 2004, he said.

10/23/1999  [ Ballard]   Zero Emissions Bus Rolls into [Kennedy Space Center] Next Week for Demonstrations - MSNBC

    “There are many connections between ZE bus technology and NASA,” said H.T. Everett, chief of the Liquid Propellants and Fluids Management Office in the KSC Logistics Operations Directorate. “Those include NASA’s experience with fuel cells, our experience with hydrogen as a clean fuel, our goals in technology advancement and public awareness, and our goals in environmental stewardship.” ...The ZE bus is being brought to KSC by DBB Fuel Cell Engines Inc. of Vancouver, Canada. The company is an alliance of Daimler, Chrysler, Ford Motor Co. and Ballard Power Systems. Ballard is a leading developer of PEM fuel cells for terrestrial transportation applications.

10/23/1999  Spectrolab and NREL Achieve World-Record Solar Cell Conversion Efficiency Exceeding 32% - Hughes Space and Communications/Flordia Today

"We are extremely excited about this result," said Dr. David Lillington, vice president for solid-state products at Spectrolab. "Multi-junction solar cells have made a major impact on the cost-effectiveness and revenue-generating capabilities of high-power space satellites over the last five years, and we expect them to have a similar impact on the $1 billion terrestrial photovoltaics industry. "We have taken the basic cell design concept and made it cost-effective for terrestrial applications when it is combined with a concentrator system. By doubling the power generating efficiency of the cell, the size of the solar ray collection system can be reduced in half, thereby reducing the overall cost of the infrastructure," said Lillington. "We are anxious to see the near-term deployment of our technology into large photovoltaic systems and are in the process of selecting industry partners with demonstrated field experience," he added. "The potential cost reductions are consistent with prices paid by utility companies for renewable energy sources such as silicon solar cells, wind generation and geothermal. No other family of solar cells offers the same opportunity to achieve such high performance."

10/22/1999 [ DCH Technology] Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) to Demonstrate Satellite Communication/Information Systems Powered by Fuel Cells to Board of Directors - Volunteers in Technical Assistance/PRNewswire

VITA, the world's first private voluntary organization to apply advanced microelectronics and space technology to the dissemination of technical information for development and humanitarian purposes, will demonstrate a variety of communications technologies powered by fuel cells at their Board of Directors Fall meeting, Monday, October 25th. VITA was awarded the very first Pioneer's Preference Award by the Federal Communications Commission of the United States for its efforts in bringing communications to the developing world. The organization's arsenal of communications technologies includes low-earth orbiting satellites as well as a variety of wireless systems with an emphasis on rural applications. The fuel cell stack for the demonstration is being supplied by DCH Technology, a California-based diversified hydrogen technology firm serving critical applications, including safety and power. "What we are trying to accomplish with the fuel cell demo is to show our Board some of the technologies we are working with that have the potential for making a difference in the lives of the poor. VITA wants to be at the hub of a network of experts and information to be able to recommend innovative solutions to problems of energy and communications," said Gary Garriott, VITA's Director of Informatics. He added, "the work of DCH in portable fuel cells is also of great personal interest as I did research on such devices for developing countries as a University of Wisconsin graduate student over twenty years ago!"

10/22/1999 Electricity Fuel Cell Gets State Support by Jerd Smith - Denver Rocky Mountain News (Colorado)

Rick Grice first read about fuel cells last summer in the pages of the journal Scientific American. Now, he wants Coloradans to witness what these newfangled energy devices can do. To that end, Grice, director of the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation, plans to spend $100,000 to build a fuel cell demonstration project that will showcase how the device generates electricity for homes and small businesses. ...The clean, efficient cells are developing so quickly that experts believe they will be available for home and business use as early as 2001 or 2002, earlier than they are likely to appear in cars. Colorado's demonstration project is one of only a handful nationwide, said Brett Williams, senior research associate at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Snowmass-based energy think tank. Right now, he estimates that a small cell capable of powering a home will cost about $4,000.

10/21/1999 Behind the Wheel by Paul Dean - Los Angeles Times (California)

"It is the next move, a very significant step, a starting point, the first step toward other types of propulsion," says Tom Elliott, executive vice president of Torrance-based American Honda Motor Co. ..."We've tested the electric vehicles, which, as far as consumers are concerned, have certain shortcomings," Elliott continues. "Now it's the hybrid, with Insight in its infancy. Do consumers like it? What don't they like about it? They will help us shape hybrids for the future." And that future, he says, will obviously include hydrogen-electric fuel-cell propulsion in the decade to come.      

10/21/1999  Fuel Cell May Be the Future 'Battery' by Anne Eisenberg - New York Times

Fuel cells were once seen as future power sources for cars, buses and power stations, but inventors are now proposing them for the subkilowatt world of portable electronics. They may soon come to the aid of soldiers, police officers and even everyday commuters who are weary of the inconvenience of their battery packs, rechargers and spare AA's. Some experts say the latest fuel cells may provide a power source that weighs far less, and lasts far longer, than any battery on the market, in part because of their efficient use of hydrogen. "Fuel cells have a simply amazing ability to extract energy from the hydrogen atom," said Christopher Dyer, a senior member of the technical staff at Motorola Labs in Tempe, Ariz., who is the inventor of a fuel cell designed for use in portable electronic devices. ..."A liter of methanol should provide enough electricity to run a laptop for more than a week," Dr. Dyer said. "A lithium ion battery of comparable volume has a tenth of that energy." Lithium ion batteries, commonly used in laptops, each provide about three hours of energy.

10/21/1999 Iceland Proceeds Towards Hydrogen Fuel - German Hydrogen Association DWV

Project participants say that the work is proceeding according to schedule. The various subtasks are in different stages. They are:

• Introduction of fuel cell buses running on hydrogen in Reykjavik,
• introduction of fuel cell cars for individual transportation, possibly with methanol as initial fuel,
• production and distribution of hydrogen,
• possibilities to produce and distribute other hydrogen carriers (like methanol), and
• use of fuel cells for the fishing fleet.

The Reykjavik bus project with initially three vehicles is closest to realization. The project planning for this is the most advanced, and possibilities for financing and funding are considered. Apart from technical matters also economical feasibility and public acceptance will be investigated. The results will be the basis for the decision of the Icelandic side whether and how fast the fleet of 180 buses in Reykjavik will be converted.

Converting the fishing fleet to hydrogen fuel will take more time because the demands to the reliability of the storage method are higher than usual for a vessel which may be on sea for weeks.

 

10/20/1999  GM and Toyota Set up Hybrid Engine, Fuel Cell Development Team by Eijiro Ueno - Bloomberg/Detroit News

General Motors President Richard Wagoner and Toyota President Fujio Cho were speaking at a press conference before the Tokyo Motor Show, the most heavily attended exhibition of new vehicles in the world. The companies said the development of new types of clean, nonpolluting engines -- particularly gas-electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells -- offer greater potential benefits than conventional engines. The two automakers plan to cooperate on the development of parts and the design of new hybrid systems, as well as devising systems to carry hydrogen on fuel-cell vehicles.

10/18/1999  Whose Car is Greenest? by Terril Yue Jones - Forbes

So where are the Americans in the battle to develop a car that doesn't run on gasoline? Not on the hybrid bandwagon. Instead, General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler are going for the big kahuna: fuel cells that produce zero emission. Fuel cells combine hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity. Its only emission is water. And unlike battery-powered cars, fuel cells don't require frequent recharging. Yes, mass-market fuel cell technology is at least four years away and lots of obstacles remain, but the Big Three figure that with gas prices low they have the luxury to skip hybrids on their way to zero-emission cars. "Fuel cells could be the Holy Grail for the pollution-free car," says GM President G. Richard Wagoner Jr. GM's ambitious goal: use fuel cells in 10% of its cars sold by 2010.

10/17/1999  Deconstructing the Death Ray by Michael Dobbs - The Washington Post

While the United States and the Soviet Union frequently misread each other's intentions, there are few more striking examples of the twisted consequences of faulty intelligence than the controversy surrounding the Kazakhstan facility, which was given the acronym P-NUTS by American analysts, for Possible Nuclear Underground Test Site. ...Keegan went public with his concerns following his retirement in January 1977, warning in a speech that the Russians might deploy a particle beam weapon as early as 1983. (He did not explain how they would achieve this feat.) Shortly afterward, an article appeared in the influential magazine Aviation Week and Space Technology on the alleged Soviet breakthrough in particle beam weapons. The article, by Aviation Week military editor Clarence A. Robinson, revealed that U.S. spy satellites had detected the release of large amounts of hydrogen gas from the P-NUTS facility, a telltale sign of the "dumping of energy" that would accompany particle beam weapons tests.

10/14/1999  Doron Levin: Right Fuel Cell Could be Truly Mind-Boggling - Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

Investors who believed in computing and software are wealthy because they had foresight as long as 15 years ago and had the guts to hang on. Those who were skeptical must stop crying in their beer and focus on The Next Big Thing. I have no idea if fuel cells constitute TNBT. But the technology bears investigation, especially for anyone who thinks he or she will live to see fossil fuel become far more expensive and scarce. This applies especially to the twentysomething and thirtysomething generations who should be investing today, in part anticipating how the world will look 30 years hence.

10/14/1999  DaimlerChrysler and Japan's Largest Oil Company Agree to Test Fuel Cell Technology - DaimlerChrysler AG/PRNewswire

DaimlerChrysler Japan Holding, Ltd. and Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Co., the largest Japanese energy provider, agreed today to jointly study fuel infrastructure options for fuel cell vehicles. The DaimlerChrysler AG subsidiary is planning to test fuel cell vehicles in Japan. Nippon Mitsubishi currently has 29 public "Eco- Stations" in Japan that provide electricity, natural gas, methanol and liquid petroleum gas. Initial fuel cell test vehicles will run on methanol, although the potential for other fuels will be considered. DaimlerChrysler was the first automaker to demonstrate driveable fuel cells vehicles running on hydrogen and methanol, and the Company also is pursuing gasoline reformation.

10/13/1999  New Ballard Fuel-Cell Bus Grabs Attention in Florida by William Boei - Vancouver Sun

It is powered by a 205-kilowatt (275 horsepower) fourth-generation fuel-cell engine that's simpler in design and 2,000 kilograms lighter than those in buses being tested by the Vancouver and Chicago transit systems. The new engine was built by dbb fuel cell engines inc., which is owned 51 per cent by Daimler-Chrysler, 27 per cent by Ballard and 22 per cent by Ford. "This P4 engine is our commercial prototype," dbb chief operating officer Rick Pow said from Orlando. "It's ready to go to the bus manufacturers today for integration into their buses." ...The new bus was brought to Florida to show the public transportation industry "that fuel cell technology is not six or 10 years off as some people have said, but it's actually ready today to go to bus manufacturers and it will be in production in 2002," Pow said.

10/11/1999 Ballard Affiliate dbb Rolls Out Next Generation Fuel Cell Bus Engine - Ballard Power Systems/Business Wire

Almost 2,000 kilograms (4,000 lb) lighter than its predecessor, the Phase 4 (P4) engine was designed using knowledge gained during in-service testing of buses using Phase 3 (P3) engines in Chicago and Vancouver, B.C. The 205kW(275 hp) P4 engine is less complex than the P3 thanks to a reduction in the number of components. Also, to facilitate servicing, off-the-shelf components have been used in the P4 design in place of custom components used in the P3 engine. "This Phase 4 engine marks a revolutionary change from our previous generation engine," said Dr. Ferdinand Panik, President of dbb fuel cell engines inc. and head of DaimlerChrysler's fuel cell project. "It is now ready to go to bus manufacturers for the development and sale of zero-emission buses. We will begin full commercial production in 2002." The new engine will be available for use in buses that will operate as part of the California Fuel Cell Partnership Driving for the Future. That partnership is working with California transit agencies to test approximately 25 buses.

10/11/1999  Tiny Molecules Called Nanotubes Have Scientists Dreaming Big by Byron Spice - Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette

Nanotubes thus might find use as a storage medium for cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Others have suggested that these light, elastic, but strong carbon molecules might be used to make new structural materials. Some say they could be used to build analytical chemistry laboratories the size of a button. But this speculation is just that, maintains Ken Jordan, a Pitt chemist. Nanotubes seem quite simple -- each is basically a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon rolled into the shape of a tube -- but their properties in many ways remain as mysterious as they are amazing. "Our goal is to try to understand at a microscopic level how these things are functioning," said Jordan, who directs Pitt's Laboratory of Molecular Simulations and Material Sciences. That effort recently got a major boost with the installation of a $900,000 cluster of 25 IBM RS/6000 computers, obtained through grants from IBM and the National Science Foundation, along with university support. Linked by a high-speed switching unit, the computers can work together to run complex simulations of the performance of nanotubes and other molecules.

10/9/1999 TECO Cited in Power-Plant Explosion - MSNBC

According to the report, the Tampa Electric Company’s pre-job briefings were not adequate. Prior to the explosion, the employees working on the generator were not informed that Hydrogen was still in the generator. ...Six months ago, around 7:15 a.m., in Port Sutton, the Tampa Electric Company’s (TECO) Gannon power plant exploded during a routine check on a generator at the plant. Three people died, and fifty workers were hurt in a blast that was heard 35-miles away. TECO blames the explosion on a hydrogen leak but won’t comment on the OSHA report until it is made public.

10/8/1999  Ballard Receives $3.9-Million Order from Honda for Fuel Cells - Ballard Power Systems/Business Wire

Ballard Power Systems announced today that it has received a $3.9-million order (US$2.6 million) from Honda R&D Co., Ltd. of Saitama, Japan, a subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company, to supply Ballard(R) fuel cells, related equipment and support services. Honda will use the Ballard fuel cells in its research and development program for evaluation and development of fuel cell powered electric vehicles. 

10/7/1999  Cryogenic Propellant Loading Test Conducted on Japanese H-2 Rocket - Space Today

The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) carried out cryogenic propellant loading test of the H-II Launch Vehicle No. 8 at the Tanegashima Space Center on Oct. 6 (Wed). NASDA verified the launch operations and inspect the component functions of H-II Launch Vehicle No.8 itself as well as launch facilities from cryogenic propellant (liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen) loading test applying the real countdown sequence. Measures were taken to correct faults that appeared on Sep. 12 in the 1st stage liquid hydrogen depletion detection sensor, and normal operation was confirmed.

10/5/1999  Synthetic Enzyme Shows Promise As Way to Make Hydrogen Cheaply - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

A look-alike enzyme active site synthesized by scientists at the University of Illinois may move the world much closer to an energy-efficient, hydrogen-based economy. ...Like the original enzyme, the hydrogenase look-alike contains an integral metal-metal bond, connected to several ligands -- including iron sulfide, carbon monoxide and cyanide. "Nature really designed an amazing structure," [Professor Thomas] Rauchfuss said. "Carbon monoxide and cyanide are poisons. This enzyme is not something you would normally associate with life." Unlike the original enzyme, however, the new version does not yet fully function as a catalyst. "We can get it to spit out some hydrogen, but then it stops for some reason," Rauchfuss said. "We don't yet know how to make the system 'turnover' for continuous hydrogen production." Because the synthetic replication process is still in the early stages of development, "there is considerable room for improvement," Rauchfuss said. "For example, the natural enzyme contains thousands of atoms, whereas our synthetic version contains only 25 atoms, so it is not surprising that our simple model is not perfect. But this is a very big step in the right direction."

10/5/1999  Honda, VW Join California Fuel Cell Partnership - California Fuel Cell Partnership/Business Wire

A public-private venture to demonstrate fuel cell vehicles in California today welcomed two more automotive companies to the effort. Automakers Honda and Volkswagen have signed on with the California Fuel Cell Partnership to help commercialize fuel cell technology.    The Partnership, which formally began in April 1999, includes auto manufacturers (DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company), energy providers (ARCO, Shell, Texaco), a fuel cell company (Ballard Power Systems), and the State of California (California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission). "We are pleased to welcome Honda and VW to the team," said Alan Lloyd, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board. "With the addition of these new partners, including the first Asian-based company, this gives us a truly global partnership. Together, the shared expertise and commitment to expand our efforts to develop this environmentally-friendly technology will help us reach more consumers and help pave the way to commercialization."    

10/5/99  Fuel for Thought by Vanessa Houlder - Financial Times (Great Britain)

The "hydrogen economy" is beginning to take shape. Using hydrogen instead of carbon-based fuels such as coal and oil is increasingly seen as an attractive way of moving towards low-pollution energy. Iceland has indicated that it wants to move to a hydrogen economy, while several prominent oil and car companies have announced plans to pursue hydrogen-related business opportunities. Some of these could come to fruition in the near future: DaimlerChrysler recently announced a prototype of a hydrogen-based car that could go into production by 2004. The enthusiasm arises partly from the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, which is dictated by the Kyoto protocol, the international agreement on global warming. It also stems from improvements in fuel cells, the fast-advancing technology that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water. How realistic is the idea of shifting energy generation from conventional sources towards hydrogen? The problem is no longer fuel cell technology, according to Amory Lovins, director of research at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a sustainable development research centre. Instead, he says, the issue is how hydrogen would be manufactured, delivered and stored.

10/5/1999  Finland Plant Leaks Hydrogen Gas - Washington Post/AP

Hydrogen gas escaped momentarily into the atmosphere at a nuclear power station Tuesday in southern Finland, but caused no radiation or danger to the surrounding area, nuclear safety officials said. The leak happened when empty hydrogen gas containers were being replaced outside at the Loviisa plant, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Helsinki.

October  1999  New Fuel Cell Prototypes, Concepts on Display at Frankfurt, Tokyo Auto Shows - Peter Hoffmann's Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter

Described as Ford's idea of a "near-future" fuel cell car, the FC5 was said to offer "a realistic vision" of what a five-passenger fuel cell car could look like about five years down the road. ...Ford's chief technical officer Neil Ressler said current fuel cell stacks are still heavy and bulky but shrinking, "and the Ford FC5 represents another major step forward with this. ...Toyota, which presented the hydrogen powered FCEV at the 1997 show, currently is testing two models - one powered by hydrogen and the other by methanol. ...[Honda] is currently testing two prototypes, one powered by hydrogen (the FCX-V1) and the other by methanol (the FCX-V2). Both are equipped with fuel cells by Ballard Power Systems. ...Nissan's prototype, like Honda's, employs a Ballard fuel cell. The vehicle is based on the R'nessa sport utility vehicle and runs on methanol. ...Mazda's hydrogen powered Demio FCEV, introduced in 1997, is expected to reappear at this year's show. However, since spring of last year, Mazda has joined it activities to those of DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor and Ballard Power Systems, which in April 1998 formed a strategic partnership to develop fuel cells and electric drive systems.

October 1999  [ DCH Technology] Fuel Cell Boats: They’re Coming By Liz Evans - Boating Industry International

[T]he US Department of Energy has selected low-power PEM fuel cell manufacturer DCH Technology to be part of a team of companies that will explore the feasibility of marine application of fuel cells. The study will not be restricted to PEM cells as one of its goals will be to conclude which form of fuel cell technology is most appropriate for the marine industry. Ship manufacturers, boatbuilders, and engine and propulsion system manufacturers are invited to participate, according to David P. Haberman, vice president of technology of California, USA-based DCHT. "The marine engine market is multifaceted, and it is our mission to ensure that fuel cells used with electric motors become a competitive part of the maritime industry," Haberman says. The initial phase of the study will be directed at commercial shipping and military applications, but it will lead to the exploration of other applications, such as retrofitting ships, says David Walker, president of DCHT. If the technology proves viable in commercial shipping, he says it probably also will work in recreational applications.

9/29/1999  Plug Power to Produce Funding by Brenda Rios - Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

Many analysts say DTE, a company known for making conservative investments, has placed itself on the cutting edge of the energy business with Plug Power. "If there was ever an industry ripe for the advent of a new technology, it's utilities," said Fred Schultz, a Houston-based utilities analyst with Raymond James & Associates. "Utilities are still burning coal and gas and crude oil, the same old fossil fuels." If successful, fuel cells could someday take customers from Detroit Edison, DTE's single-biggest moneymaker. ...Plug Power hopes to be selling residential fuel cells in 2001 through a marketing and sales joint venture subsidiary named GE Fuel Cell Systems. Initial prices for the dishwasher-sized home units are expected to be $7,500 to $10,000 each. Prices are expected to drop as manufacturing becomes more efficient. Some experts say the price may fall by as much as 50 percent within three years.

9/29/1999  GM Gets Fuel Cells to Generate Electricity Even When It's Cold by Doron Levin - Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

Today in Washington, D.C., the head of GM's Global Alternative Propulsion Center is to deliver a speech describing a breakthrough in fuel-cell development. Byron McCormick will describe to an industry group how GM engineers successfully coaxed voltage from a fuel cell at a temperature of 4 degrees below zero. ...From the early days of the clean air debate, fuel cells have been dismissed as an interesting but unlikely solution to the environmental dilemma. One key reason for pessimism was that water, a by-product of the fuel cell process, turns into ice at freezing temperatures. That makes it impossible for the fuel cell to work and power a car during a typical winter day in Boston, Green Bay, Wis., or Detroit. Using a number of techniques involving special materials, design changes and mathematical formulations, GM engineers late this summer hit on a promising combination to overcome that problem. Twenty-five times in a row, the fuel cell generated electricity immediately. More problems remain, but GM is attacking them in collaboration with Toyota. In April, GM and Toyota announced they will work together on all advanced technologies, including fuel cells, battery power and hybrids.

9/27/1999  Nuclear Waste at Risk of Overflow - Strategy Backfires; Hanford Lab Frets Over Hydrogen Gas in Tank by Matthew L. Wald - New York Times/Mercury Center

The 20-year-old tank, called SY-101, is buried just under the surface at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, 20 miles from Richland, a city of about 32,000 people. The tank produces unwanted hydrogen as radiation fields bombard organic chemicals that were added years ago in what officials now say was a mistaken strategy to reduce the waste's volume. Until six years ago, the hydrogen was emitted in huge releases that official studies call burps, causing ``waste-bergs,'' chunks of waste floating on the surface, to roll over. With the tank belching thousands of cubic feet of gas at roughly 100-day intervals, Energy Department officials were afraid that at some point it would burp during a lightning storm and cause an explosion, which would spread radioactive material into the environment. The Energy Department ordered installation of a huge pump in 1993 to break the hydrogen into tiny bubbles, which engineers hoped would then rise to the surface like carbon dioxide fizzing out of a soft drink. For a time that worked. But engineers theorize that the crust started to toughen because it no longer rolled over from time to time, and it prevented the hydrogen from coming to the surface. In December 1997, the crust began to rise, even though virtually nothing was being added to the tank. The waste's surface climbed from about 403 inches above the bottom of the tank to 435 inches at its peak, before workers lanced it, with each inch representing almost 3,000 gallons. By Friday, the waste had risen again to 432 inches. The tank is protected by a double shell, but the waste is within 2 feet of the level at which the outer shell ends.

9/25/1999  [ Ballard] Los Angeles Plans to Use Prototype Buses to Cut Down on Pollution - CNNfn

The city is looking at a new prototype powered by fuel-cell technology developed for NASA that converts hydrogen and air into electricity that in turn powers the buses.  ...Southern California's air quality watchdog agency [ SCAQMD] has provided $1 million to help British Columbia-based Ballard Power Systems develop the zero-emissions bus. Ballard in turn opened an office in California, where strict environmental laws are mandating the rapid introduction of zero-emission based vehicles. "The potential market for this type of engine is beyond just buses. For buses specifically, North America is a reasonably small market since about 5,000 transit buses are sold each year. But in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world where public transportation or mass transit is much bigger, we'll see a much bigger market," said Firoz Rasul, president and CEO of Ballard Power Systems.

9/24/1999  New Millennium to Bring 'Cleaner' Cars and Energy by Erin Kelly - Gannett/USA Today

The fuel cell, originally developed for the U.S. space program and currently in use in the space shuttle, has the potential to replace the internal combustion engine and create motor vehicles that spew harmless water vapor from their tailpipes. ...Today, fuel cell technology is too costly to compete with traditional energy sources, but futurists are heartened by the fact that major automobile companies - including DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor Co. - and oil companies - including Atlantic Richfield Co. - are pumping millions into fuel cell development.

9/22/1999  [ Ballard] HONDA: Yoshino Reaffirms Honda's Independence - M2 Communications/LookSmart

Honda has introduced the FCX-V1 and FCX-V2 - two electric vehicle prototypes powered by fuel cells, the much anticipated next-generation power plants for automobiles. The FCX-V1 uses hydrogen fuel and is equipped with a fuel cell stack manufactured by Ballard Power Systems Inc, which employs a hydrogen occlusion alloy for fuel storage. The FCX-V2 employs a methanol-fuelled fuel cell stack, manufactured by Honda itself, incorporating a Honda-developed reformer for extracting hydrogen. Both prototypes feature the Honda EV Plus body specially designed for electric cars, as well as Honda's own small yet highly efficient 49kW (67 PS) drive motor and control system. In each case the fuel cell stacks are of the solid polymer PEFC (Proton Exchange Fuel Cell) type. In view of possible future changes in the fuel infrastructure and to accumulate engineering expertise, Honda has been striving to develop fuel cell vehicles - and is planning to have one commercially available by 2003.

9/21/1999  Launch of H-2 Rocket with MTSAT Delayed to November - Flordia Online/National Space Development Agency of Japan

The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) opened the first stage liquid hydrogen tank and finished checking inside the tank on Sep. 19. The malfunction... occurred on the first stage liquid hydrogen depletion detect sensor on Sep. 12 and it caused postponement of the launch of the H-II Launch Vehicle No.8. As a result, NASDA concluded that the liquid hydrogen depletion detect sensor and its attachment stem contacted in a state of cryogenic temperature while filling the tank with liquid hydrogen, which caused the sensor to malfunction. NASDA corrected position of the sensor on Sep. 19, and plans to confirm that the sensor works correctly after closing the tank and filling with liquid hydrogen.

9/20/1999  [ Air Liquide] Joint PSA Peugeot-Citroen - Renault Research Project to Develop a Fuel Cell Powered Vehicle Receives Approval of the French Fuel Cell Network by Matthias Altmann - HyWeb (Germany)

Following on the Hydro-gen and Fever research programmes, PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault are now to pool their resources and expertise with their proposition for a four-year joint research programme. The programme will allow the acquisition of expertise and determine what conditions of feasibility and competitiveness will lead to the production and marketing of a fuel cell powered vehicle by 2010 at the latest. In order to attain the targets set, PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault have associated themselves with:

• CEA, Air Liquide and De Nora for the development of the fuel cell system
• Air Liquide, Elf and Total Fina for the fuel supply and reforming process
• Air Liquide and Valeo for the fluid circuits and energy transfer.

9/17/1999  Toyota And Honda To Launch Gas-Electric Cars In U.S. by Michael Ellis - Reuters

Pressured by impending regulations for better fuel economy and cleaner burning vehicles, GM, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG are pouring billions of dollars into research of fuel cells, touted as the power source of the future. Fuel cells would convert some sort of fuel -- gasoline, methanol, and hydrogen are among those being studied -- into electricity, reducing pollution while giving consumers all the attributes they expect in a vehicle. However, fuel cells are now prohibitively expensive and the automakers say it will be at least 2004 before commercially viable vehicles are on the market. And then they have to figure out: in a country of gasoline stations, where will drivers fill up with methanol or hydrogen? Meanwhile, the Honda Insight two-seater and Toyota Prius sedan, which run on gasoline, will be on sale within months.

9/16/1999  Senate Lets Truck Fuel Order Stand by Janet Fix - Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

The U.S. Senate voted 55 to 40 Wednesday against raising the federal fuel economy mandate for sport-utility vehicles, pickups and vans. The vote was a victory for the auto industry and a loss for environmental groups. They wanted Congress to let President Bill Clinton require automakers to design their popular light trucks to be as fuel efficient as cars. An automaker's fleet of cars must average 27.5 miles per gallon; its truck fleet must average 20.7 miles per gallon. ...Although the auto industry lobbied hard to defeat the effort, the vote was closer than expected.

9/16/1999  Power and Transport Have to Wait for Clean Fuel Cell Energy by Paul Berrill - Reuters

Fuel cells use hydrogen to make electricity through a chemical reaction not unlike a battery but create little or no pollution -- depending on the source fuel. The technology is ideal for the development of small-scale power stations, said Bernard Baker, chairman of U.S. based Fuel Cell Energy, formerly Energy Research Corp. Quiet and clean, direct fuel cell technology was suited to 250 kw power stations which can be located close to users like hospitals or factories - gaining 65-70 percent fuel efficiency when able to utilise normally wasted heat. ``The main question mark for any fuel cell application is the cost. Initial costs will be higher, but we can make it up on fuel efficiency,'' Baker said.

9/9/1999 Extraordinary Carbon Tubes by Indira Murthy - The Hindu (India)

Microscopic carbon nanotubes can be useful as microcontainers for storing a large amount hydrogen gas, which will be held in their capillaries by adhesion. Hydrogen can be released by heating the tubes. It is known that hydrogen gas is attractive as a fuel for many reasons but a method of conveniently storing has not been found. ...Commercial production of nanotubes has started already. But it is not yet possible to make it in large quantities economically. It is pricey now, costing 10 times more than gold. With round the clock operation, a company says it can produce just about a hundred gm of single walled nanotubes per week. In spite of the cost, considering the performance advantage alone, nanotubes will be in demand for many applications, when a method of making them in sufficient quantities is found.

9/9/1999  Green Machines by Simon Tuck - Toronto Globe & Mail (Canada)

Three alternative fuel niches are led by fledgling Canadian companies. Ballard is the world leader in fuel cells; Iogen is considered the world's most advanced ethanol company; and Methanex Corp. of Vancouver is the largest producer of methanol. "We've got the lead right now and we intend to keep it," says Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale, "[and] the prize at the end of that race is absolutely huge." The expected transition to alternative fuels could also be a boon for Canada in another way. This country has not only some leading alternative fuel companies, but also an abundance of some of the raw materials -- natural gas, agricultural waste and fresh water -- that could become valuable ingredients in the energy industry of the future.

9/9/1999  Fuel Cell that Runs on Natural Gas Developed by Northwestern Engineers - Northwestern University

A fuel cell that produces electricity directly from methane has been developed by engineers at Northwestern University's Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. The cells could lead to cost-effective, clean, and efficient electrical-power generators for applications ranging from power plants to homes to electric cars. The breakthrough fuel cell, reported in the Aug. 12 issue of the journal Nature, generates clean electric power by extracting the chemical energy contained in methane, which is very similar to natural gas, without burning it. Unlike existing fuel cells -- which several major automakers are racing to put in production cars within as little as five years -- the "direct-methane" fuel cell does not require hydrogen gas or the chemical reforming of a hydrocarbon fuel to produce hydrogen. Instead, it directly oxidizes methane and generates electric power in a single step.

9/7/1999  BPA Releases List of Utilities to Receive Fuel Cells by Steven Heiser - Power Online

The electric power generators chosen to take part in the initial test are:
  1.) Central Electric Cooperative, Redmond, Ore.
  2.) City of Idaho Falls, Idaho
  3.) Emerald PUD, Eugene, Ore.
  4.) Energy Northwest, Richland, Wash.
  5.) Eugene Water and Electric Board, Eugene, Ore.
  6.) Fergus Electric, Lewistown, Mont.
  7.) Grant County PUD No. 2, Ephrata, Wash.
  8.) Lincoln Electric Cooperative, Eureka, Mont.
  9.) Mason Co. PUD No. 3 & Lewis Co. PUD No. 1 (in partnership), Washington
  10.) Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative, Portland, Ore.
These 10 companies will operate the first 10 fuel cell systems at their own facilities and performance data and feedback from them will help define the next generation of fuel cell systems. In addition, 100 second-generation units will be produced to further test and refine the technology. Northwest Power Systems, the company that is manufacturing the PEM fuel cells, expects to have the first unit ready this fall.

9/3/1999  After Huge Blasts, Unocal Vows Emergency Plan by Jon Little - Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)

Unocal's facility is a conglomeration of several plants. Two blend hydrogen from Cook Inlet natural gas with nitrogen from the air to make ammonia. In two others, it pressure-cooks the ammonia with carbon dioxide to produce urea. Both products are used as fertilizer as well as building blocks for other products, such as plastics, glue and rocket propellant. The accident occurred during a planned shutdown of ammonia plant No. 1, the facility's oldest ammonia-making machinery, to repair a small carbon dioxide leak. But when crews started to drain a liquid called methyldiethanolamine, or MDEA, out of some pipes and into an empty 30-foot-round, 30-foot-tall metal holding tank, explosive hydrogen gas flowed into the tank instead. The gas was supposed to have been blocked by a valve. Static electricity likely ignited the hydrogen, which not only blew the top off the huge tank but tore it from a cement pad and flung it high into the air. The tank smashed down dozens of feet away atop a pipe containing MDEA, triggering an equally violent explosion seconds after the first, said Mike Nugent, the facility's manager.

9/1/1999  Cars in Future Likely to Run on Pollutant-Free Systems - The Irish Times

California, of all places, is leading the way. To help combat the traffic pollution which has plagued Los Angeles, it has put the motor industry on notice that 10 per cent of new car sales in the state in 2003 - or about 100,000 cars - must be "zero emission vehicles". ...Three European car manufacturers - Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot - are already producing electric cars on pilot basis. In Palermo, there are solar-powered buses which park at the main railway station to recharge from solar panels which also provide shelter from the sun. Under the EU Commission's ZEUS project, which promotes alternative energy use, Luxembourg now has 45 bio-diesel buses, Athens is building fuelling facilities for compressed natural gas and Bremen is offering motorists Dm3,000 to convert their cars to CNG.

9/1/1999  Ford Shows Off New Hydrogen Refueling Station - Liquid and Gaseous - Unwraps H₂ I.C. Engine - Peter Hoffmann's Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter

...in addition to the company's work on fuel cell technology via the P2000 HFC (hydrogen fuel cell sedan) Ford has been quietly developing a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine, based on the company's standard Zetec 4-cylinder 2-liter production engine used in Ford's Contour, Mystique and Escort ZX models. ...Ford executive Bradford Bates acknowledged that the company was supporting the work on hydrogen storage in carbon nanotubes by Nelly Rodriguez and Terry Baker at Northeastern University, Boston, research that previously had been supported by DaimlerChrylser. "There is a lot of work going on" in this area, Bates, manager of the alternative power source technology, explained. "But it is very much in the early stages, in the laboratory, and nobody really has put enough of this stuff together to put it into a big tank to make sure that it works. We don't know the answer to that....and we don't know whether there's a breakthrough right around the corner.   "We are anxious to solve that problem," he added. "It would be a wonderful solution." ...Ford and Mobil Corp. reported "significant progress" in jointly developing smaller, lighter, less expensive on-board partial oxidation processors, including new catalysts that permit the start of the reforming process to initiate "at much lower temperatures," according to Mobil's vice president for technology, Jim Katzer.

9/1/1999  Lab-Designed Fuel Cell Tutorial Available Online - Los Alamos National Laboratory

A comprehensive tutorial on fuel cells, written and designed for high school and college students, is now available at Los Alamos National Laboratory's education Web site. The 36-page publication and the Web site were featured in the July 30 issue of Science magazine, which recommended the guide as an introduction to the subject. ...The tutorial contains a detailed explanation of what a fuel cell is, focusing on the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) technology. These fuel cells operate at relatively low temperatures, have high power density, can vary their output quickly to meet shifts in power demand, and are suitable for transportation applications where quick startup is required. There is also information about other types of fuel cells and fuels, a brief overview of potential uses for fuel cells and information about areas in need of further research.

9/1999 Residential Fuel Cells: Hope or Hype? by Russ Barlow - Home Power Magazine #72

In a typical American home, the energy consumed for electrical power (except heating) and the energy consumed for domestic hot water heating are about equal.  The heat byproducts from a fuel cell system just about perfectly meet the water heating needs for the averagee home.  One manufacturer's system produces about 1.3 KW of recoverable heat energy for every KW of electrical energy generated.