xxxx

8/31/2002   Ford to End U.S. Electric Car Sales - Sarasota Herald Tribune (FL)

Ford Motor Co. said Friday that it will stop selling Think electric vehicles in the United States at the end of the year because of lack of demand. "We're very disappointed about it, but the market for the battery-operated vehicles has turned out to be a business that we really can't sustain," Ford spokeswoman Sara Tatchio said. Tatchio said the Dearborn-based automaker plans to focus on other technologies for cleaner-running cars and trucks, including hydrogen fuel cells and the gas-electric hybrid SUV Escape, due to debut in late 2003.

8/30/2002   Kawasaki Heavy To Enter Fuel Cell Cogeneration Mkt-Nikkei - Dow Jones

The firm has already developed the major component for this type of cogeneration system, part of the catalytic converter that generates the hydrogen used to energize fuel cells from city gas. Cogeneration systems generate electricity and heat from the same source. The heavy machinery maker has improved the heat transfer and production capacity of the catalyst, thereby shortening the time for the catalytic converter to start up to about 10 minutes from the hour needed by conventional units.  ...It envisions producing a system with a generating capacity of 10-30kw for apartment houses and convenience stores, targeting commercialization in 2006.

8/29/20002   Hydrogen Powered BMW Turns Heads at World Summit by Lauren Kansley - Environment News Service

The rising cost of fuel must have many people wishing that getting from point A to B was as easy as throwing a couple of liters of water in the tank. That dream might not that be so distant, judging by an exhibit attracting lots of attention outside the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg: BMW's '0 liter car.' Powered by liquid hydrogen, 15 of these swanky BMW 750hL test vehicles have already covered a distance of 170,000 kilometers (105,633 miles) since their introduction in Berlin, Germany in May 2000. ...BMW engineer Albrecht Jungk warned it was unlikely that hydrogen enabled cars would be on the road any earlier than a decade from now. ..."At the moment hydrogen is about four times more expensive than petrol," Jungk noted. "We cannot estimate whether the price will decrease in time since no one can predict the price of fuel."

8/27/2002   Clean Energy Tech Promises Watered Down At UN Summit - Dow Jones

To the outrage of environmentalists, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other nations at a U.N. summit worked Tuesday to water down promises to rapidly expand the use of clean, renewable energy technologies around the globe. ...Sources sitting in on the negotiations said the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other oil states were among several nations whose delegates were lobbying to eliminate specific goals to expand the use of renewable energy from the conference's implementation plan. ..."If renewable energy is to grow and costs are to go down, it will need targets and frameworks," said former Shell Oil chairman Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of Business Action for Sustainable Development, an advocacy group organized following the Rio Summit.

8/26/2002   Sweet Step to Hydrogen Revolution:  Platinum Extracts Green Fuel from Glucose by Phillip Ball - Nature (UK)

Chemists in the United States have developed a way of making hydrogen from plant matter. It is a step towards hydrogen becoming cheap and plentiful enough for it to be used as non-polluting fuel. James Dumesic and co-workers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison heated a glucose solution extracted from plant tissues to around 200 °C under pressure. They passed it over a catalyst comprising tiny platinum particles scattered throughout a matrix of porous aluminium oxide. This process breaks the glucose down into hydrogen, carbon dioxide and small amounts of methane. ...Inorganic catalysts such as platinum are more robust than bacterial enzymes, and are also amenable to improvements that give a better yield of hydrogen. Some inorganic catalysts can produce hydrogen from vegetable oils. But the Wisconsin process might also work with raw plant fibres. Dumesic and colleagues admit that they do not yet have an industrial process on their hands. They need to find a catalyst that is cheaper than platinum, can handle a wider range of starting materials, and produces a better yield of hydrogen - at the moment some of it is squandered in other reaction products. But they are confident that these improvements can be made.

8/26/2002   Cars of the Future on the Roads Today by Sylvie Belmond - Malibu Times (California)

Actor and Malibu resident Dennis Weaver and his wife, Gerry, who are on an environmental crusade that has taken them from conference to conference throughout the Southwest, currently drive a Prius. But their focus is to promote hydrogen technology for vehicles that would be completely independent from gasoline in the future. "It's [hybrid use] a transition that allows conserving the oil we have until a conversion to hydrogen is made," Weaver said. The actor believes that hydrogen-powered vehicles are the answer for the future of transportation because they will help to clean up the environment and provide a boost to the local economy. However, the technology still needs to be perfected, he said. "The tragedy of September 11 makes crystal clear our urgent need to move to an energy source to support our economy that is independent of foreign sources, one that will also preserve and protect our life-giving environment," Weaver states on his Web site page, www.ecolonomics.org/drive/press_set.html. "It seems obvious to me that we are vulnerable until we do that," he explained. Hydrogen power is a clean inexhaustible fuel source and it could boost the economy by creating thousands of new jobs, he said. But converting American car buyers to swap their transportation modes will take some time. "It's a process that won't happen overnight," Weaver noted as he suggested the first step would be to convert fleets, such as Fed Ex or the Postal Service, to hydrogen or compressed-gas autos. That would create an internal central fueling system because these fleets do not need the infrastructure that consumers need. "To create the hydrogen auto, the carmakers need the infrastructure and vice versa, so it's like a chicken and egg syndrome," said Weaver. "However, these practical difficulties can be alleviated if the government gets involved and creates incentives for the consumer by offering tax breaks and subsidies, like it did when petroleum industries first started because it was beneficial for the economy." Hoping to capture the public's interest for alternative power sources that don't pollute, Weaver designed a "Drive to Survive" campaign where hydrogen and compressed gas vehicle prototypes will be driven from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in the coming spring.

8/23/2002   Avista Labs Cuts One-quarter of Staff - Puget Sound Business Journal (WA)

Avista Corp.'s fuel cell subsidiary has cut its work force by about 15 people, or 25 percent, as it shrinks R&D efforts and focuses on selling existing products. ...Although the Avista Labs unit generated investor excitement during the 2000 energy crisis, interest in fuel cells has cooled. In May, Avista Labs laid off six top executives including president Kim Zentz.

8/23/2002   Clean Air Act Opens Fertile New Market for Iowa Firm in Houston by Monica Perin - Houston Business Journal

Until now, Sioux Falls, Iowa-based Terra Industries has concentrated on a core business of supplying nitrogen fertilizer products to the agricultural industry. But the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, which require fossil fuel-based industries such as power and chemical plants to meet lower emission standards by 2003, has created a new opportunity for the company's nitrogen and technologies. One way for plants to reduce NOx emissions is by installing selective catalytic reduction devices (SCRs or "scrubbers"). This technology uses ammonia feedstock to carry hydrogen, which neutralizes the nitric oxides, producing nitrogen, air and water.

8/22/2002   The Big Question: Cars, but not as We Know Them ... - New Zealand Herald

Cars will still be around in 2050 but it's unlikely they'll be recognisable as cars, says Philip Watson of the Government advisory body the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. The biggest change to cars by 2050 will be the power source - the internal combustion engine will be replaced by the hydrogen fuel cell. The development of the fuel cell began with experiments by a British scientist, Sir William Grove, nearly 30 years before Nickolaus Otto revealed his prototype. ...But if the hydrogen required to power fuel cells could be produced from renewable sources (such as biomass or solar power) the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere will be vastly reduced.

8/21/2002  Iceland: Hydrogen Economy Update by Sharon Wheeler - BBC (UK)

Professor BRAGI ARNASON: (Chemistry Department, Reykjavik University) Our vision is that when we have transformed Iceland into a hydrogen economy, then we are completely independent of imported fossil fuel. MARIA MAACK: (Icelandic New Energy Ltd) Some people think we're being used as guinea pigs. But this idea was an Icelandic initiative. It's not as if the government is paying huge amounts like foreign companies to come in and use us. It's because we want to try it. OLAFUR RAGNAR GRIMSSON: (President of Iceland) Iceland is in a way serving us the model of the society of the future. The society which is environmentally sound. Which is based on renewable energy and on a way of life which doesn't really destroy the life or the atmosphere or the bio-system that we have. There's a lot at stake.

8/21/2002   West Virginia Governor Wise Unveils Plans for Energy Industry by Sam Tranum - Charleston Daily Mail (WV)

Gov. Bob Wise and members of his Energy Task Force unveiled a set of specific steps today designed to make West Virginia a leader in the energy industry in the 21st century. The plan, developed by the task force, recommends creating tax credits to encourage energy industry research and development. It also recommends actions including training workers for future energy industry jobs, producing hydrogen for use as a fuel and possibly creating a model sustainable energy community in West Virginia.

8/20/2002   Obstacles Fall To Feasibility Of Hybrid Fuel Cell Vehicle - Penn State

Fuel cells are not the sole energy source in this hybrid automobile. The battery stacks, which may be charged from an outlet in the garage or by the fuel cells are the primary source of power for short trips and in town driving. The batteries will also power the electric heating units that heat up sections of the magnesium hydride, once the battery stack is drained to a certain capacity. Excess energy from the fuel cells will also recharge the batteries.

8/19/2002   Notebook Overhaul on the Horizon by Michael Kanellos - ZDNet

Five years from now, the desktop will probably look pretty much like it does today, but the notebook will likely be smaller and lighter, capable of making cellular calls on its own and running on methane. ...Fuel cells and battery enhancements, which will let notebooks run three to 10 times longer without a recharge, will begin to appear by late 2004. ...PolyFuel, for instance, a spinoff of SRI International, is working on fuel cells for portable devices. The cells essentially break methane down into protons, electrons and carbon dioxide. While the protons pass through a specialized membrane, the electrons can't and get shuffled into a wire powering a cell phone or laptop.

8/19/2002   Algae: Power Plant of the Future? by John Gartner - Wired

Melis launched a company, Melis Energy, in 2001 to try to commercialize a technique that harnesses algae's ability to turn sunlight into hydrogen. In the fall of 2001, the company built a bioreactor containing 500 liters of water and algae that can produce up to 1 liter of hydrogen per hour. A siphoning system extracts the hydrogen, which is stored in its gaseous state. The company is continuing to refine the process and improve its reliability, while also searching for investors so that it can increase production volume.

8/19/2002   Honda Plans Release of Fuel Cell Vehicle - Earth Vision

Honda will start a lease program for a limited number of FCXs in the US and Japan by the end of this year. During the first two-to-three-year period, Honda will lease about 30 fuel cell vehicles in California and the Tokyo metropolitan area, two locations with access to a hydrogen fuel supply infrastructure. The company currently has no plans, however, for mass-market sales of fuel cell vehicles.

8/18/2002   NEC Shares Rise on Nanotube Report - Reuters

A representative for NEC said the company was on track to develop carbon nanotube production technology to meet its 2005 target launch date for fuel cells using the high-tech material, although it planned to tap another firm to do the manufacturing. ...NEC has said it would use the nanohorns to facilitate the catalytic process in compact fuel cells for mobile phones and other electronic goods. Fuel cells are under development by several Japanese electronics companies as a much longer-lasting alternative to rechargeable batteries. ...The Japanese government has targeted nanotechnology, which involves structures at the molecular level with a scale as small as a few billionths of a meter--or nanometers, as an area where it hopes Japan can reassert its technological prowess after suffering setbacks in semiconductors and other high-tech fields.

8/17/2002   Air-breathing Jet Flies at 5,000mph by Roger Highfield - Telegraph (UK)

Aviation has entered the era of the hypersonic jet after an air-breathing engine exceeded 5,000mph. The "hypersonic ignition" by the scramjet is one of the most important milestones in aviation since the sound barrier was broken in 1947. The technology could slash the cost of launching satellites, which rely on huge supplies of oxygen on board.

8/16/2002   Scramjet Success as Engine Hits Mach 7.6 - Daily Standard (UK)

A jet engine which uses oxygen in the atmosphere to ignite hydrogen fuel has reached 7.6 times the speed of sound. The air-breathing "scramjet" engine, which could eventually dramatically cut longhaul flight times, reached supersonic speeds for the first time during a test over the central Australian desert. Engineers from the University of Queensland say any commercial application is years off but the successful test of the HyShot scramjet, which is capable of more than 3,100mph, at least proves the technology is viable.

8/16/2002   Cheap And Easy Hydrogen Generation by Alton Parrish - Fuel Cell Today

The process reacts iron or other metal catalyst with a degassed aqueous organic acid solution within a reaction vessel under anaerobic conditions at a constant temperature of 80 degrees C. and at a pH ranging from about 4 to about 9. The reaction forms a metal oxide when the metal catalyst reacts with the water component of the organic acid solution while generating hydrogen. Then the organic acid solution reduces the metal oxide thereby regenerating the metal catalyst and producing water, thus permitting the oxidation and reduction to reoccur in a continual reaction cycle. The technique allows the continuous hydrogen production to be sustained by feeding the reaction with a continuous supply of a degassed aqueous organic acid solution.

8/15/2002   Southwest Research Institute Awarded $3M DOE Grant to Test Materials for Their Ability to Store Hydrogen - San Antonio Business Journal

Because of the growing interest in hydrogen as a fuel source for fuel cells, the DOE has established a national laboratory at SwRI to assess the performance of new hydrogen-storing materials and systems. Working with the government and industry, the researchers will develop a set of performance and safety evaluation standards to use in testing new materials. "Conventional methods of storing compressed hydrogen in cylinders for use with fuel cells raise several safety concerns, particularly in automotive applications," says Michael A. Miller, manager of the Materials Characterization and Development Section at SwRI. "The problem is that standard methods or protocols have not been developed to determine the hydrogen storage capacity and physical behavior of these materials."

8/15/2002 GM's Electric Dream - Telegraph (UK)

General Motors today unveiled the HY-wire concept, a fully driveable hydrogen-powered car and the latest development in its fuel-cell program. Using the same technology developed for the AUTOnomy project, it combines fuel-cell power and an electronic control system, integrated into a 11-inch thick skateboard-style chassis. The power system comes from the Zafira -based HydroGen3 concept, which has a top speed 97 mph. The fuel-cell stack, producing a continuously available 94 kilowatts of power, is installed in the back of the chassis.

8/14/2002   GM Walks Hy-Wire with FCV by Paul Eisenstein - The Car Connection

The sci-fi-style prototype is a running, next-generation version of the Autonomy concept introduced at the Detroit auto show earlier this year. The “Hy” in its name refers to the hydrogen fuel cell that powers the prototype. The second part of its name hints at the fact that Hy-Wire is operated by a videogame-style controller, rather than conventional mechanical links. But an equally novel part of the design means Hy-Wire’s body can be quickly removed and replaced with another.

8/13/2002   Ebara To Sell Japan 1st Stand-Alone Fuel Cells Feb-Nikkei - Dow Jones

The so-called Nexa fuel cell, which obtains hydrogen from a cylinder, can supply electric power for long periods of time, making it a useful emergency power source, the sources said, according to the report. The device has a 900w output, enough to meet the power needs of a typical house. Ebara will import key components from Ballard Power Systems Inc. (BLDP) of Canada and assemble them at its plant in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, next to Tokyo. The company has already begun sample shipments through Ebara Ballard Corp., a Tokyo joint venture. It plans to set the price at Y3 million or lower when it starts full-scale marketing next year, the financial daily reported. The 64kg cell is portable and requires no special installation work, the sources said. The company expects demand for the fuel cells as a backup power source at communications facilities owned by railroad operators and power utilities. It targets annual sales of several hundred units.

8/11/2002   Professor Urges Move Away from Fossil Fuels by Pat Peckham -  Wausau Daily Herald

Hall's worries have not made him lose hope that global warming can be reversed. He recalls when the Wisconsin River was so polluted 20 years ago that nobody dared eat fish caught from it. Stricter environmental regulations have improved the situation, he said, and a larger-scale effort could stop global warming. People will need to live differently to effect a change, he said. More hybrid or even hydrogen-powered vehicles would help. "The bottom line is we need to move away from a fossil-fuel economy," he said. "It would make sense in terms of health, our national economy and the flora and fauna we have." Political gains are possible, too, he said, if Americans lead the way in use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. "If you're not dependent on foreign oil, you can't be blackmailed." he said. "All we lack is the political will."

8/9/2002   'Back to the Future' of Cars by Mike Straka - Fox News

The Hydrogen1, a GM prototype that runs entirely on fuel cell technology, for example, comes with a current price tag of well over a million dollars -- taking research and development into account. That is a sticker price consumers can't roll with. "We've got to bring the cost down," said Neil Schilke, General Director of Engineering at GM's Public Policy Center and a leader of the GM Tech Tour, which is rolling through several U.S. cities this summer. "It's an exciting time to be an automotive engineer if you look at the fact that the automobile industry is going to change over the next few decades," said Schilke. "Fuel cell technology is a way to bring hydrogen technology to the world."

8/8/2002   Fuel Cell Coming to a Handheld Near You by Matt Berger - Infoworld

The power supply, developed at MTI Micro, in Albany, New York, makes energy out of methanol fuel. When it runs out of juice, all a user has to do is insert a new fuel cartridge, which is about the same size as the cartridge in a fountain pen. The direct methanol fuel cell follows a different formula from similar technology being designed to power automobiles and homes, which make use of a technology known as a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell. PEM fuel cell devices follow a more complex process and typically operate at higher temperatures than direct methanol fuel cells. The direct methanol fuel cell originally was developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico. MTI Micro has licensed that technology and hired on as its chief technology officer Shimshon Gottesfeld, who led the fuel cell research at Los Alamos for nearly 15 years. The company, which is a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, acquired another slice of its intellectual property and funding from DuPont.

8/8/2002   Agencies Ordered to Obey Alternative Vehicle Law
Environmental News Service

In ruling on a lawsuit brought by environmental groups earlier this year, Federal District Court Judge William Alsup found that all 15 federal agencies charged in the suit have violated the Energy Policy Act's alternative fuel vehicle acquisition requirements in at least some years. All of the agencies have further violated the Act by failing to publicly disclose whether they had acquired such vehicles through annual compliance reports, Judge Alsup ruled. The lawsuit was brought by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Bluewater Network, and the Sierra Club. "This is a major victory for anyone who believes this nation's transportation system is dangerously addicted to petroleum including, it seems, President [George W.] Bush's father. Hopefully the federal government will finally get with the program," said Jay Tutchton, staff attorney with Earthjustice.

8/8/2002   The Fine Art of Valuing Ballard Shares: News v. Fundamentals by Ian Karleff - Financial Post (Canada)

Admittedly, the potential for fuel cells remains huge and while timelines for their commercialization are vague, when it does happen, the companies with the right technology should be huge winners. "The compelling vision of this company -- which is the power to change the world -- is a pretty seductive idea," said newly appointed Ballard President Dennis Campbell. So seductive in fact that for years, analysts have readily admitted that investors' primary measure for evaluating and reevaluating the stocks' worth is the flow of news. The Ballard story has attracted significant support. The company has sold more than half a billion dollars of stock to willing investors since 1996, with the latest offering at US$105 a share, for a price that is 10 times yesterday's closing price of US$11.40.

8/7/2002   Ford Unveils Hydrogen-Fueled Generator - Reuters/Cnet

Ford Motor Co. and Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems Inc. jointly unveiled on Wednesday what they described as the world's first hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine-driven generator. ...Commercial production of the hydrogen-fueled generator is set to begin by year-end, and Ford and Ballard said the initial market for the product would be utilities for peak power applications. The generator, covered by Ballard's Ecostar trademark, uses a standard 6.8 liter Ford production engine that has been modified and warranted by Ford Power Products for hydrogen use.

8/2/2002   Energy After September 11: A Commentary by Seth Dunn - Worldwatch Institute

The tragic terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the subsequent military response, have raised thorny questions about U.S. energy policy. How does oil import dependence factor into the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia-a major grievance of radical Islamic fundamentalists? How might continued heavy reliance on imported Middle Eastern petroleum complicate American efforts to eradicate terrorism from the region? ...Although the trend toward micropower and hydrogen was underway prior to September 11, these events -- and the difficulties encountered in responding to them -- illustrate the consequences of not engaging in a more concerted public policy effort to accelerate the introduction of these promising energy solutions. Indeed, they strengthen the case for an Apollo-scale effort to develop an infrastructure for producing, delivering, and using hydrogen. While there are costs in building a hydrogen economy, they must be weighed against the risk of continuing to rely on oil imports from the Middle East-which holds more than 65 percent of the world's proven petroleum reserves.

8/1/2002   Stationary Fuel Cell Market Commercialization At The Door, Says Allied Business Intelligence - ABI

Global fuel cell energy generating capacity will increase to near 16,000 megawatts (MW) by 2012 from a mere 45 MW in 2002. Although there is still only one true commercial stationary fuel cell product in the marketplace, the competition level has increased dramatically in the last year according to the latest study from Allied Business Intelligence (ABI). A key trend in the stationary fuel cell industry has been the shift from research and development to the establishment of manufacturing plants, according to ABI's findings in the new study, "Global Stationary Fuel Cell Markets- A Detailed Analysis of an Emerging Industry."

8/1/2002   UTC Fuel Cells Sheds 65 Employees by Howard French - Journal Inquirer (CT)

UTC Fuel Cells spokesman Peter Dalpe attributed the job cuts to a slower-than-expected economic recovery and a resulting lower-than-anticipated number of sales of the company's commercial, stationary fuel cell, the PC25. But there were no layoffs among salaried workers, according to Dalpe, who said the reason is the company is concentrating heavily on developing new products, such as smaller fuel cells for use in vehicles. "When you're developing new products, you do more engineering and less production," Dalpe said. Overall, UTC Fuel Cells still employs a total of 793 workers, he added, which is up substantially since 1999, when the company's total payroll was only about 475.

August 2002  Fusion Redux - Popular Mechanics

After being virtually abandoned, fusion power is poised for a comeback. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the stars. For more than 50 years, scientists have been trying to bring that power down to Earth. Fusion generators are appealing because they produce none of the pollutants associated with fossil- and nuclear-fuel power plants. Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Plainsboro, N.J., estimate that a 1000-megawatt nuclear fusion plant would produce about 4 pounds of waste a day, compared to 31,000 tons from a coal-fired plant of a similar capacity. And while some radiation would be created, there would be none of the lethal radioactive wastes formed when fission reactors split uranium atoms.

7/31/2002   $14M Slated for NB Busway - New Britian Herald (CT)

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the 2003 Transportation Appropriations Bill, which includes $14 million for the busway, last week. Also included in the bill is $2 million for a demonstration research project by a Boston consortium to power buses using fuel cells. ...Boston-based Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium (NAVC) has been lobbying Congress to secure funding for a fuel cell demonstration project which could be held on the busway, according to Sheila Lynch, NAVC executive director. ...According to Lynch, the only producers of fuel cell technology in the state that meet project guidelines are United Technologies (UT) in South Windsor.

7/31/2002   Ballard Widening Its Scope To Offset R&D Costs by John Greenwood - National Post (Canada)

Yesterday Ballard said it expects to post net losses "for the next several years" as it continues with development. Industry analysts say key to the company's success is wide-scale adoption of hydrogen technology by the auto industry, which is not expected to happen until at least the end of the decade. As a way to generate revenue earlier, Ballard has embarked on a strategy of expanding into other markets, such as such as stationary power generation. Yesterday Ballard said it has enough funding to keep going until the end of 2004. However "we expect to raise additional capital before 2004 to continue to develop our business."

7/30/2002   Nissan Accelerates Fuel Cell Vehicle Plans by Alison Gee - BBC (UK)

California is an important market for this technology. Earlier this month the state's governor, Gray Davis, signed the first bill in the US designed to force car makers to find ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their vehicles. ...Nissan originally planned to launch its fuel cell car in 2005, but the vehicle could now be on limited sale within a year.

7/30/2002   New Hydrogen Tank Moves Fuel Cell Vehicles Closer to Reality by Ed Garsten - New Jersey.com/AP

The tank approved by Germany's Technical Inspection Association holds 10,000 psi -- enough of the gas to provide a range of nearly 300 miles before refueling. Previously certified hydrogen tanks were half that size. The Technical Inspection Association validates such high-pressure storage tanks in accordance with industry standards in Europe and North America. GM and QUANTUM Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc., formed a partnership last year to develop hydrogen storage and handling systems for the automaker's fuel cell applications. QUANTUM developed a key breakthrough in hydrogen storage called the TriShield design. ...The system also has been validated by the European Integrated Hydrogen Project, which develops global regulatory standards for hydrogen storage testing and certification. On July 23, Impco Technologies Inc. spun off QUANTUM and GM then acquired a 19.9 percent equity stake in the new company.

7/29/2002   GM to Sell Emergency Backup Fuel Cells by Michael Ellis - iWon/Reuters

Pursuing companies that pay hundreds of dollars per kilowatt hour for an uninterrupted flow of energy, such as hospitals, cellular phone networks and credit card processing centers, will allow GM to refine its fuel cells as it works toward fuel cell-powered vehicles by the end of the decade. The world's largest automaker, which has spent billions of dollars on fuel cell research, expects to have a prototype stationary fuel cell ready by late next year, and its first customers in 2004, said Tim Veil, director of distributed generation solutions with GM. ...GM will announce by the end of this year partnerships with some established power suppliers to sell its fuel cell stacks to businesses, Veil said. The largest market for the back-up power supply will be in the United States and Japan, where the government is aggressively pursuing fuel cell use, he said.

7/29/2002   GM Opens New York Fuel Cell Research Center - Lansing State Journal (MI)/AP

"Given our current technological momentum and business realities, we expect to see compelling and affordable fuel cell vehicles on the road by the end of the decade," said Larry Burns, vice president research, development and planning. Burns said GM also planned to market stationary fuel cell power units used to generate electricity for homes or businesses even sooner. New York Gov. George Pataki pressed the "on" button on one such unit that is being used to provide some of the power in the new 64,000 square foot facility. Other GM fuel cell research facilities are located in Warren, Mich., and in Mainz-Kastel, Germany. The new facility in Honeoye Falls will employ about 100 engineers, in addition to the 200 that have been working in an existing lab next door since 1998. ...The automaker also is working on a drivable version of the Autonomy fuel cell vehicle it debuted at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

7/29/2002   UTC Fuel Cells Sells Unit to Power Texas Hospital by Howard French - Journal Inquirer (CT)

The RBJ Health Center is headquarters for the public health and community care divisions of the Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department. As is customary with the company, no financial details of the deal were disclosed. But based on similar orders in the past, the contract should be worth roughly $900,000, minus any discounts. UTC Fuel Cells has been building a solid backlog of orders this year, including a June, contract to provide a fuel cell system to the New York Aquarium. The PC25 fuel cell will supply backup power in case of a blackout at the aquarium, which is home to 8,000 fish and other sea life. The aquarium is on New York City's Coney Island. ...But it was in March that UTC Fuel Cells received its largest single order to date, a contract to supply seven of its PC25 fuel-cell power plants to Verizon Communications to provide primary power for a major call-routing center on Long Island.

8/27/2002  Renewable Hydrogen, High Volume Carbon Sequestration and a Nitrogen Fertilizer Offer a Sustainable Future - Eprida     PHOTOS

The hydrogen research team from Clark Atlanta University, Georgia Institute of Technology, DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Scientific Carbons, Inc. and Envirotech, Inc. at 11:46 PM on August 25, began producing hydrogen from biomass while sequestering 25% by weight of the material long-term. The resulting carbon, in its activated state as produced with USDA AARC funding, is highly adsorbent and can be combined with co-products of the process to form a slow release nitrogen fertilizer. The fertilizer and farm industry can use this process to offer a verifiable carbon sequestration service while increasing farm income and crop yields. The use of the sequestered carbon as a carrier for nitrogen and as a soil amendment, preventing harmful runoff of farm chemicals is a win-win for farmers. Fertilizer manufacturers and farmers can become a major force in the battle against global warming while facilitating the production of hydrogen from renewable resources.

7/27/2002   Counting the Cost of Social Responsibility by Mary O'Hara - Guardian (UK)

Three years ago, the stock market was in love with anything involving technology, and that meant that companies producing things such as hydrogen fuel cells or wind farm technology saw their share prices soar. But as the dotcom bubble burst, so did the shares in almost anything associated with technology. ...Paul Moody, fund manager at Morley Fund Management says: "We believe that markets attractive to ethical investors, such as renewable energy, are likely to out- perform the conventional energy market in the long term."

7/25/2002   Market Batters Ballard as Fuel Cell's Commercial Future Questioned by David Baines - Vancouver Sun (Canada)

Paul Lancaster, the company's chief financial officer, dismissed the article as "a lot of innuendo and opinion" portrayed as facts. He also noted that Kurzman and Holdsworth are the only two analysts who are rating Ballard as a "sell." According to Bloomberg, 13 of the 24 analysts who cover the stock are recommending it as a buy and nine as a hold. ...On the plus side, Ballard has an impressive list of allies including Ford and DaimlerChrysler, which own more than 40 per cent of the company's outstanding shares and are committed to investing another $55 million if the company does another equity offering before December 2004. ...Meanwhile, Ballard has been working on other applications for its fuel cells. Last October, it began selling its 1.2 kilowatt Nexa portable fuel cell power generator to original equipment manufacturers, most notably Coleman, which plans to market it as the Coleman Powermate Airgen. To date, however, none of these OEM's have incorporated it into a commercially-available end product. The Barron's article questioned the commercial viability of the generator as it will cost $6,000 to $8,000 US each, compared with a portable gasoline engine at less than $1,000. Holdsworth, citing the high unit cost and refueling issues, believes the product is "unlikely to succeed." Carson, on the other hand, says the Nexa product cannot be compared with conventional gasoline engines. He says the Nexa product can operate safely indoors, has a much longer operating life and unit costs will diminish over time.

7/24/2002   Hoku Scientific Extends Agreement with UH - Pacific Business News

Hoku Scientific, a company developing hydrogen fuel cells, has renewed its agreement to use University of Hawaii facilities at Manoa until June 30, 2003. ...Hoku Scientific is working on not one but several kinds of hydrogen fuel cells, and recently closed on $1 million in first-round venture funding. One of its investors is Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

7/24/2002   Hydrogen Refueling Station Coming to Tokyo - Earth Vision

In a partnership with Iwatani International Corporation and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Showa Shell Sekiyu KK (Showa Shell) announced July 22 that it will build Tokyo's first hydrogen refueling station. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (Shell) owns 50 percent of the Japanese company Showa Shell. ...The central Tokyo sight of the new station is owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The aim of the station is to demonstrate safe and efficient hydrogen refueling systems. Other Shell hydrogen demonstration projects are located in California, Iceland and the Netherlands.

7/24/2002    Honda to Begin Leasing Hydrogen-Powered Cars - NJ.com/AP

The FCX will likely become the first zero-emissions car available in California that is not powered by batteries that need recharging. There are no immediate plans to mass-market it to consumers. ...In California, the car will likely be leased only in the Southern California and Sacramento areas, where a limited number of hydrogen refueling stations exist.

7/23/2002   How Fuel Cells Stack Up by Steven Milunovich - Red Herring

Any emerging technology in the new-energy market has to answer three important questions: Does it have mass market appeal? Is it more efficient? And do the economics work? With fuel cells, the answers are "yes," "yes," and "almost." ...In 1999 and early 2000, investors seemed perfectly pleased with news of improving fuel cell stack technology. Then in late 2000 and 2001, company releases weren't even necessary, as the interest in alternative energy took off in the midst of the California power crisis. Now, as investors realize that fuel cells are not yet ready for the mainstream, they are impressed with technological advancements only when they result in commercial products or an improved profitability time frame. So while the potential market remains large, investor interest will be focused on fuel cell companies that are delivering on a commercial scale.

7/22/2002   More Fuel Cells to be Mounted on Mobile Devices - Nikkei Electronics Asia

One of the most remarkable characteristics of Casio's fuel cell is a high power density at 100mW/cm2. This is twice or three times larger than the other makers' fuel cells. Thus, Casio's prototype PC can be started up with only with power from a small-sized secondary battery, without having to use any other secondary battery or a double-layer electrolytic capacitor, Casio says. Such high power density was realized by methanol reformer fuel cell. This supplies more hydrogen to a generating cell than the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) currently in the mainstream, providing a higher power density.

7/22/2002   Fuel Cell Technology Is Coming of Age by Dave Eberhart - NewsMax.com

Recently, William T. Miller, the president of UTC Fuel Cells, described to the House energy and commerce committee his company's sales of more than 250 stationary fuel cell electrical power units to customers in 19 countries on five continents. ...Commercially available fuel cell power plants, creating less than one ounce of pollution per 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity produced (compared to the 25 pounds of pollutants for conventional systems), are already at work around the country powering hospitals and other enterprises that demand an uninterrupted power stream. These fuel cell power plants are indeed so clean that some areas of the United States have exempted them from air permit requirements.

7/20/2002  Power from the Throne - Popular Science

The process begins by harvesting hydrogen from water in the solid waste. Next, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, steam, and some hydrogen are extracted. These gases are then fed into a reactor that splits the steam and methane molecules apart to get even more hydrogen. A semipermeable ceramic membrane allows only the hydrogen to pass through. The membrane also provides hydrogen that is 95 percent pure. The European Union has given Bhattacharya and colleagues a grant of about $3.6 million to build a large-scale prototype of the gasification unit and reactor in either England or Holland.

7/18/2002   Japan Government, Car, Energy Firms in Fuel Cell Projects - iWon/Reuters

In one project, automakers including Toyota Motor Corp , Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co, as well as General Motors Corp and DaimlerChrysler AG, will participate in road tests. Each automaker will provide one fuel cell vehicle for the tests. Five hydrogen supply stations in different parts of Japan will be set up to test different ways of refilling the hydrogen and examine safety issues. ...In another project, energy and fuel cell development firms such as Nippon Oil Corp and Sanyo Electric Co Ltd will work on assessing fuel cells designed to power homes and businesses. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has set aside 2.5 billion yen ($21.50 million) in this fiscal year's budget for the projects.

7/17/2002   Getting Serious About Motley Fuels by Lee Bruno - Red Herring

There's an obvious shift in policy and attitude toward cleaner, alternative-energy technologies. Policy makers in the United States and other countries are looking for long-term solutions to help lessen their heavy dependence on Middle East oil. "The California power crisis has created a sense of awareness about electrical usage," says Marko Pencak, an equity analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston.

7/17/2002   Fuel Cell Powers Lighthouse In Virginia - Earth Vision

In March a molten carbonate fuel cell was installed at the Cape Henry Lighthouse at Fort Story to test its potential as an alternative source of power and as an economical alternative to more conventional fuels. The fuel cell, developed and built by Fuel Cell Energy, Inc. of Danbury, Connecticut, was installed by the U.S. Coast Guard, which is responsible for the technology's maintenance and analyzing its performance. Traditionally, the Coast Guard uses diesel-electric and gas-turbines for electrical generation in lighthouses. It has started to explore fuel cells because conventional generators have high maintenance costs and environmental risks, especially the potential for spilling petroleum fuel. Diesel-electric and gas turbine generators can also produce high levels of several air pollutants, including sulfur and nitrogen. ...The fuel cell, which uses a methanol-based fuel mixed with water, uses close to 16 gallons of fuel daily. Conventional generators will use the same amount of fuel in roughly one hour.

7/16/2002   Veziroglu, innovator of hydrogen energy, visits Istanbul - Turkish Daily News

Professor Nejat Veziroglu, one of the innovators of   hydrogen energy, arrived in Istanbul to attend the National Hydrogen Congress to be held on July 16. Veziroglu, director of Miami University's Pure Energy Research Institute and chairman of the World Energy Council, made a statement to the press at Ataturk Airport. He said that he and a group of professors at Miami University had proposed the idea of using  hydrogen energy in order to prevent the depletion of, and the damage caused by fossil fuel, adding, "No one believed us at the time. They called us the ` hydrogen romantics'." Veziroglu stated that once the foundations of the   hydrogen energy system were laid many bus and automobile companies started working with  hydrogen , beginning in 1974. "Lastly, the oil companies also joined the hydrogen convoy in 1998. All automobile and bus companies have created automobiles and buses that operate with  hydrogen . The Airbus company is also working on a plane that will operate on  hydrogen , and this plane will fly in 2015," he added. Veziroglu said that they have been working on  hydrogen energy for almost 40 years and that they started working on a hydrogen reactor for research related to the planet Mars. "Then we started to work for the U.S. National Research Department," Veziroglu stated, adding, "the world will have access to hydrogen energy as a fuel supply by the year 2075."

7/16/2002   Old Problems, New Solutions by Amory Lovins - Worldlink (UK)

The last time the US made a concerted effort to improve energy efficiency – between 1979 and 1985 – GDP grew 16% while oil consumption fell 15%. Imports from the Persian Gulf fell 87%. Had this trend continued, the US would no longer need Gulf oil. Unfortunately, President Ronald Reagan’s roll-back of car and light-truck fuel-efficiency standards in 1986 soon caused imports from the Gulf to double again. A few years later, the Gulf War cost the US more than it would have cost to save all the oil imported from the Gulf.

7/15/2002   China Natural Gas and IMPCO Tech form JV - AutoAsia

IMPCO Technologies of California has struck a deal for the marketing and sale of its products in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions of China and the building of a local plant. The joint venture, with China Natural Gas Corp., a subsidiary of China National Petroleum, will focus on the aftermarket conversion and automotive OEM businesses. ...IMPCO predicts that the alternative fuels market in China will grow from US$50 million annually in 2002 to US$900 million by 2008, in time for the Olympics in Beijing. China has six of the 10 most polluted cities in the world and, according to IMPCO, the Chinese government is “very active in eliminating urban pollution through the employment of natural gas and propane vehicles.”

7/14/2002   Hydrogen Fuel Cells Within Next Decade? by James M. Miller - The Flint Business Journal (MI)

I drove an Opel Zafira minivan that is being tested at the California Fuel Cell Partnership. The Zafira had good acceleration from a standing start. Other than the whine of the electric motor and the sound of a compressor before and after the drive, it seemed like any other minivan. Well, there was one other clue: No gear shift, just two buttons on the console -- one with an arrow pointing to the front for "drive" and one with an arrow pointing to the rear for "reverse." The only "exhaust" emission is water vapor.

7/12/2002   Fuel Cell Companies Plotting Shake-up of Auto, Electricity Industries - Boston Business Journal (MA)

Both Nuvera and Acumentrics have attracted energy companies as shareholders -- which, like the automotive industry, view fuel cells as a long-term, strategic technology.

7/11/2002   The Late, Great OPEC by Fredrick Leuffer - National Review

"At one time, Middle Eastern countries held the world's largest reserves of oil. They still do, but the reserves sit in the ground and are worthless now. Up until 2015, these were great countries, with large, modern cities and tall buildings. But, as oil usage fell, the producers' economies fell with it. Now the area is mostly an expansive desert, and many of its people have returned to Bedouin life."

7/9/2002   California Coast 2002 - California Fuel Cell Partnership Road Rally Sept 4 - CFCP/Business Wire

300 miles, 7 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles; The "California Coast 2002 - California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) Road Rally" will demonstrate the capabilities and technology of Fuel Cell Mobility on a 3-day, 300-mile road rally from Monterey, along the Pacific Coast Highway through scenic Big Sur, continuing into San Luis Obispo and then to Santa Barbara. ...The CaFCP, whose partners include DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen, ChevronTexaco, Ballard Power Systems, UTC Fuel Cells, BP, ExxonMobil, and Shell Hydrogen, and 5 government agencies. ...The California Coast 2002 - CaFCP Road Rally begins in Monterey, September 4, continues to San Luis Obispo, September 5 and concludes in Santa Barbara, September 6, 2002.

7/9/2002   Air Products to Build Fuel Station for First Hydrogen-powered Sub by Hang Nguyen - The Morning Call (NJ)

The fueling station will be built for four submarines that Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, or HDW, is making for the German navy. The submarines are slated to begin service as early as 2003. HDW, a shipyard based in Kiel, Germany, on the Baltic Sea, calls the class 212A submarine ''the most modern non-nuclear submarine in the world.'' It is known as the U-31. ...HDW also has orders for four U-31 submarines for the Greek navy, three for the Korean navy and two for the Italian navy. Because of these orders, Air Products has an option with HDW to build more fueling stations. This will be Air Products' 15th hydrogen fueling station. ...The new station will be placed at an unspecified location in Europe in 10 months. The unit also can be moved. The hydrogen at the station is stored in liquid form but is vaporized into its natural gas state as it is pumped into the submarine.

7/9/2002 Process Incident: Acid Mixing Creates Hydrogen Hazard - Ility

Bristol Township, PA. Masel Orthodontics. A bulging 220 litre drum of phosphoric acid prompted an evacuation and a hazardous materials emergency yesterday at a building in Bristol Township's Keystone Industrial Park. At least 25 employees were safely led out of the building after the company's purchasing manager noticed the bulging drum in the storage room. According to a representative from Greenleaf Environmental Services Inc. of Philadelphia, workers for Greenleaf accidentally started a chemical reaction inside the drum after mixing stronger and weaker concentrations of the same acid. The reaction gave off heat and hydrogen gas, which over time produced a hot and bulging container. Masel makes tools and equipment for orthodontists and dentists and had been using phosphoric acid to polish stainless steel components.

7/8.2002   Hawaii Wins Energy Grants Totaling $450,000 - Pacific Business Journal

The biggest award is $150,000 for Hydrogen Power Park at the Big Island's Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii (NELHA). Hydrogen fuel cell development is a research focus for several groups in Hawaii.

7/4/2002   Fired Up With Ideas - The Economist (UK)

Capturing and storing carbon dioxide could slow down climate change and also allow fossil fuels to be a bridge to a clean hydrogen-based future.  If the world is to tackle the problem of climate change in earnest, “clean coal” has to become more than just an amusing oxymoron. All fossil fuels contain carbon, but coal is by far the most carbon-intensive. This is troubling, since global warming seems to be driven by an increase in the level of atmospheric greenhouse gases, of which carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most worrisome.

7/4/2002   Ballard's Rasul Still Chasing His Electric Dreams by John Greenwood - National Post (Canada)

The chief executive of Ballard Power Systems Inc. wants to dominate the world auto industry. His strategy is to be the first to develop the guts of a commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell car, thus solving two of the great problems that afflict the Western world today: dependence on foreign oil and air pollution.

7/2/2002   Toyota to Start Leasing Fuel Cell Car Before End 2002 - AutoAsia

Seven FCHV-4s covered a total of 110,000km on both public roads and test tracks in Japan and the US. They showed a top speed of 150km/h using electric power generated by a fuel cell. Engineers say they are now satisfied with the car’s cruising range and driveability though there are still problems to be worked through – mainly how to offer fuel cell technology at an affordable price in the start-up phase when volumes will be low. Toyota said in a statement it expects the planned lease of the FCHV-4 cars ''will contribute much toward establishing...infrastructures for the popularization of fuel cell vehicles.''

7/2/2002   Scientists Solve The Mystery Of Proton Transport In Aqueous Solution; Research Could Impact The Understanding Of Enzymatic Reactions And Design Materials For Fuel Cells - Science Daily/New York University

The researchers found that proton conduction depends critically on whether the environment is acidic or basic. Previously, it had long been thought that the mechanisms of these two environments were very similar and chemically analogous. The illumination of different mobility mechanisms operational in acidic and basic environments may help to clarify why nature might prefer acidic or basic conditions in different situations involving proton transport, and ultimately to exploit the different mechanisms in the design of processes or materials that utilize proton conduction phenomena.

• DIAGRAM: NYU/European Scientists Solve the Mystery of Proton Transport in Aqueous Solution - New York University

7/1/2002   Toyota to Market Fuel Cell Cars This Year - IWon/Reuters

Toyota Motor Corp, the world's third largest automaker, said on Monday it would become the first carmaker to market a fuel cell passenger car, with a small number of vehicles to be offered from late this year. The auto giant stressed, however, that high costs meant its marketing efforts would be limited and it said only 20 vehicles would only be leased in the first 12 months to government bodies, research institutions and energy-related companies. "We are still deciding the price of the vehicle," Toyota spokeswoman Shino Yamada said.

July 2002  The Hydrogen Economy Blasts Off - Physics World

The Icelandic government is now backing an ambitious programme to remove all fossil-fuel requirements from Icelandic society within a generation. The key is to use hydrogen or hydrogen-rich compounds in vehicles powered by fuel cells. The first hydrogen buses will hit the streets of Reykjavík early next year, filling up with hydrogen-rich methanol at a new filling station built by Shell, one of the major corporate backers of the project along with Norsk Hydro and DaimlerChrysler. Over the next few years, the capital's entire fleet of 80 buses will be replaced with vehicles powered by polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, accompanied by the introduction of PEM fuel-cell cars for private transportation (see Fuel cells eye up the mainstream market, pages 30-31 print version only). A demonstration project for a fuel-cell-powered ocean vessel is planned for 2006, with the intention of replacing the entire national fishing fleet beginning in 2015.