"The idea is to link
B.C. and California."
Allan Rock
Canada's Minister of Industry
Industry Minister Allan Rock Intrigued
by Hydrogen Highway Plan
Dennis Bueckert   Canadian News  
October 9, 2003
     Indstry Minister Allan Rock and newly elected California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger share visions of cruising a West Coast hydrogen highway. Rock said Thursday that he is interested in proposals for a Canada-U.S. highway equipped with hydrogen filling stations to fuel a coming fleet of zero-emissions vehicles. Schwarzenegger, who recently converted his Humvee to run on hydrogen, promised during his campaign that he would promote a hydrogen highway if elected.

• Allan Rock and Herb Dhaliwal announce a $215 million investment to extend Canadian Leadership in the Emerging Hydrogen Economy   
  Canada Newswire      October 9, 2003
  The investment is directed by three strategic priorities: early adoption of hydrogen technologies through integrated demonstration projects undertaken by partnerships that will showcase a working model of the hydrogen economy in real-world settings; improved performance and reduced costs of hydrogen technologies, and extension of Canadian leadership through research and development of innovative new applications in strategic areas of the hydrogen value chain; and initiatives to establish a hydrogen infrastructure through Sustainable Development Technology Canada, building on the foundation's success in establishing successful, partnership projects.
• Canada Warms to Alternative Energy Companies
  Rachelle Younglai     Reuters     October 19, 2003

Government of Australia
Releases a Carefully Crafted Study on the Steps to Creating an Australian Hydrogen Economy

“Our conventional fuel reserves are finite and moving towards a hydrogen-powered future could take at least 20 years.
This is a beginning.”
The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP
Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources
Release of National Hydrogen Study

The report’s main recommendations are:
• adoption of a national vision for hydrogen;
• a review of regulations that may present barriers to hydrogen development;
• greater involvement in international research and industrial collaboration programs; and
• formation of an Australian Hydrogen Group to help researchers, industry and Government move the hydrogen agenda forward.

The Australian Government has invested $1 million to examine a potential hydrogen future for Australia and will participate in next month’s inaugural meeting of the International Partnership on the Hydrogen Economy hosted by the US Government in Washington.

National Hydrogen Study    
A report prepared by ACIL Tasman and Parsons Brinckerhoff
for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources
Government of Australia     October 2003

Former U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, now Governor of New Mexico, to re-open New Mexico Trade Office in Jerusalem for the transition of Israel from fossil fuel to renewable / sustainable energy using hydrogen as the energy carrier.  more

"We recognize important similarities between Israel and New Mexico. Both states are technology driven; the structure and size of the high-tech industries are very similar as are research and production in the area of life sciences and the laser / optic industries. I believe that our trade office in Jerusalem could serve as an excellent conduit in the future development of renewable and sustainable energy in Israel and New Mexico."

Abraham Announces Canada to Join International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy
U.S. Newswire    October 16, 2003

    We affirm our commitment, on behalf of the United States and Canada, to collaborate on accelerating the development of the hydrogen economy as part of our broadening cooperation on energy. We aim to enhance the security of energy supply, increase diversity of energy sources, and improve local and global environmental quality. Our cooperation will contribute to laying the scientific, technical, legal, and regulatory framework needed to accelerate the commercial penetration and trade of emissions-free hydrogen technology worldwide, in cars, buildings, portable applications and power generation, to secure to our citizens the abundant, secure, and clean energy required to sustain growth, ensure security, and protect the environment.

    In this context, we see the potential of the hydrogen economy in establishing a secure energy supply through clean and environmentally sound systems for production, storage and use of hydrogen. We will seek to build on our ongoing collaboration and complementarities in our research efforts and actively explore and understand technology options, including renewable energy sources, for boosting the development of hydrogen energy.

    We agree to:

-- further the goals of future energy security as well as sustainable development which carefully balances sustained economic growth, preserves the environment, and achieves related social benefits;

-- strengthen joint cooperation to work for universally compatible codes, standards, and regulations;

-- strengthen joint cooperation on research, development and demonstration; and

-- work together to foster public-private collaboration.

    These joint efforts will assist us to make the most of our domestic investments; bring to bear the expertise of the public and private sector to solve the complex challenges surrounding the hydrogen economy; establish sound, universally compatible codes, standards, and regulations for hydrogen fuel storage and utilization. They will provide a strong and broad foundation for bilateral and multilateral cooperation, such as under the proposed International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy, the International Energy Agency and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada for collaboration on Energy Research and Development.

International Energy Agency Ministerial Meeting
U.S. Fosters International
Hydrogen Partnership
Environmental News Service     April 28, 2003

"Partnerships that leverage scarce resources, develop technology standards, and foster private-public technology and infrastructure collaboration can more easily overcome the technological and institutional barriers that inhibit the development of a cost-competitive, standardized, widely accessible and safe hydrogen economy."
Spencer Abraham, U.S. Secretary of Energy

    U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham today called for international collaboration in advanced research and development to support the deployment of hydrogen energy technologies for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. During his presentation to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial meeting, Abraham said he envisions an International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy such that "a participating country's consumers will have the practical option of purchasing a competitively priced hydrogen power vehicle, and be able to refuel it near their homes and places of work by 2020."
    The international partnership would establish cooperative and collaborative efforts in hydrogen production, storage, transport, and end use technologies; common codes and standards for hydrogen fuel utilization; and the sharing of information necessary to develop hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
...The world oil market is stretched nearly to capacity, Abraham and IEA Executive Director Claude Mandil agreed during their meeting in Brussels March 7.      more

BACK TO THE DARK AGES
FOR GREAT BRITAIN?

Planners Put a Stopper on BP's Eco-friendly Gas Pump
   Carl Mortished      The Times (UK)      July 18, 2003

“We have thousands of petrol stations selling LPG gas.  [Hydrogen] isn’t that different.”
           ---  a BP Spokesman

   READ THE DRAMATIC HYDROGEN SAFETY STUDY
Hydrogen vs. Gasoline Vehicle Fires: Fuel Leak Simulation
Proceedings of the 2001 DOE Hydrogen Program Review
Dr. Michael R. Swain    University of Miami

London is to Take Part in an Environmental Pilot Scheme
Which Will Use Emission-free [Hydrogen] Buses
BBC     July 21, 2003

...only one fuel cell is in everyday operation in the UK, providing power at a swimming pool in Woking built by a US company.
Fuel Cell Brain Drain: UK Losing Race for Fuel of the Future
James Reynolds   The Scotsman (Scotland)   June 13, 2003

"The minor funding that is being offered today for enhancing the fuel-cell and hydrogen opportunities in Canada are almost insignificant to what is really needed. When you compare that to the cost to society of maintaining welfare roles when today's children are unable to work because they have no lung power, we'll realize what a bargain we passed up a few years back."
Dr. Geoffrey Ballard
co-founder of Ballard Power Systems
Gov't Passing Up Bargain Says Fuel Cell's Godfather
Jim Jamieson     The Province/Canada.com      June 10, 2003
SEE ALSO HYDROGEN AND HEALTH

• Study Finds Damage to Human Cells Exposed to Air Pollution  University of California, Los Angeles    April 10, 2003

• The Next Big Thing: Dr. Ballard Thinks Big
  David Whitford     Fortune     June 4, 2003

• The Government of Canada Invests in Questair Technologies to Fuel Advances in Hydrogen Economy
  Government of Canada/Canada Newswire     June 8, 2003

• Author Sees Disaster Ahead If Alternate Energy Sources Aren't Developed
  Manuela Badawy   Houston Chronicle/Reuters   May 10, 2003

"It is hoped, in the long term, the wind turbines and use of hydrogen will almost eliminate the need to transport diesel to this remote and pristine location."
Australian Environment Minister David Kemp
Australian Antarctic Base to be Hydrogen Powered
MSN Nine    May 22, 2003

Australia claims as territory nearly six million of Antarctica's 13.5 million square kilometres, a patch roughly the size of Australia without Queensland, and the largest Antarctic claim of any nation.
Australian Antarctic Division

Hydrogen Energy Systems in Antarctica (H2ESA) program

Norsk Hydro to Create Hydrogen Society on the
Island of Utsira
Norsk Hydro  May 9, 2003

     Could hydrogen combined with wind power prove the best energy solution for remote communities? Hydro is involved in a pioneer project on the windswept island of Utsira on the Norwegian coast near Haugesund. This is a demonstration project showing how wind power and hydrogen can provide all the energy needed in a community, making it fully independent of fossil fuels. This is the first full scale project of its kind in the world and is a barrier-breaking milestone in the development of green energy systems.

   HAWAII

EDITORIAL
Iceland Has Lesson for Sunny Hawai'i
Honolulu Advertiser       April 27, 2003

   One of the key issues facing all involved in the hydrogen revolution is that it takes power to make power. Simply burning large amounts of fossil fuel to make hydrogen fuel makes little sense.
   Hawai'i, which has several projects under way already aimed at developing hydrogen power, should be watching the Iceland experiment closely.
   The Islands also have abundant sources, or at least potential sources, of renewable energy that could be used to produce hydrogen fuel. These include wind power, solar, ocean-thermal and, of course, geothermal.
   Rather than wait for someone else to develop, prove and commercialize this technology, Hawai'i should join its chilly friends to the north and be leaders in the hydrogen revolution.

Oct 2000 CHBC Meeting
Visionary Chairwoman of Hawaiian  House Energy & Environmental Protection  Calls for Hydrogen Economy
  Mina Morita
       Hydrogen for Hawaii
         Quicktime by VIMS      Get Quicktime

--- HAWAII FUEL CELL TEST FACILITY OPENS! ---
Isle Fuel Cell Facility Hopes to Fire Up Clean Energy
Diana Leone    Honolulu Star-Bulletin     April 25, 2003

The Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility opened for business yesterday in Kakaako, with its partners predicting it can help make Hawaii a world leader in hydrogen power. The venture will have up to 20 scientists, coordinated by the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, studying ways to make fuel cell technology more commercially practical.  ...U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, who were present at a dedication ceremony at the facility yesterday, were credited with obtaining more than $4 million in federal financing to jump-start the project.

HYDROGEN HAWAII VIDEO RELEASED ON DVD

ICELAND: First Shell-branded Hydrogen Station Opened
    Shell Hydrogen     April 24, 2003
    Shell Hydrogen, a global business of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, today opened the first Shell-branded hydrogen station at a Shell retail site anywhere in the world, at Reykjavik, Iceland.   ...The station will be used to refuel three DaimlerChrysler fuel cell buses that will be run on Reykjavik's streets on a commercial basis by Straeto bs, the local bus company. ...The Reykjavik hydrogen station incorporates the machinery, supplied by Norsk Hydro, to produce hydrogen from water by electrolysis. All of Iceland's electricity is generated from hydroelectric and geothermal sources.

"We can basically say that the first ten years, meaning from the year 2000 until roughly 2008, 2012 will be a kind of demonstration period. Hopefully after a positive experience from this demonstration stage, we hope to see serial production of vehicles, ship engines and other technologies in the hydrogen sector, and this will go on until maybe 2015, 2020, when, as I am convinced, full commercialization will start. And then we can really start exchanging the current transport fleet and the current ship fleet with hydrogen."
Jon Björn Skulason,
General Manager, Icelandic New Energy
Iceland Aims for Oil-free Energy   Deutsche Welle (Germany)
May 13, 2003

Click to download

Generating Solutions:
How Clean, Renewable Energy Is Boosting
Local Economies and Saving Consumers Money
U.S. PIRG Education Fund   April 2003

• U.S. Renewable Energy Fueled By Local Efforts

European Union High Level Group on Fuel Cells releases draft report:

HYDROGEN ENERGY
AND FUEL CELLS
- A VISION OF OUR FUTURE

    In the coming decades hydrogen will increasingly complement electricity as a key energy carrier, unlocking a diverse range of primary energy sources to help solve Europe’s and indeed the world’s increasing concerns over energy supply and energy security, air quality, and global warming. Hydrogen will become commonly available on fuel station forecourts, in new housing developments, and in large commercial and industrial facilities.

    It will fuel conventional combustion systems and fuel cells – new energy converters which are highly efficient, intrinsically clean and quiet. Fuel cell vehicles will circulate freely, with the possibility to be refuelled from home, even offering back-up power for homes or hospitals if required.

    Hydrogen ferries will transfer tourists to remote islands which are self-sufficient in energy, and where hotels and hire cars run on the same fuel, produced entirely from renewable sources. Intelligent buildings will use fuel cells to maximise efficiency of heat, cold and electrical power. As fuel cells become cheaper and more durable, they will offer beneficial options to conventional combustion systems for stationary, mobile and portable power generation.

    Europe will be a first class player within the integrated world research network – developing and harnessing hydrogen and electricity as complementary energy carriers for our planet, and exporting technology and know-how to help sustainable development around the world. Integrating hydrogen and electricity as energy carriers will enable the intelligent management and efficient usage of a diverse range of primary energy sources. This flexibility will enable Europe to optimally plan and manage its energy security – with the final goal to become energy independent.   

• U.S., European Union to Cooperate on Hydrogen Energy Research   
  American Embassy, London      March 10. 2003

• FUEL   CELL  REPORT ISSUED TO   U.S.  CONGRESS
  February 2003

How Hydrogen Can Save America
by Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall      Wired      April 2003

    Four decades ago, the United States faced a creeping menace to national security. The Soviet Union had lobbed the first satellite into space in 1957. Then, on April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted off in Vostok 1 and became the first human in orbit.
    President Kennedy understood that dominating space could mean the difference between a country able to defend itself and one at the mercy of its rivals. In a May 1961 address to Congress, he unveiled Apollo - a 10-year program of federal subsidies aimed at "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." The president announced the goal, Congress appropriated the funds, scientists and engineers put their noses to the launchpad, and - lo and behold - Neil Armstrong stepped on the lunar surface eight years later.
    The country now faces a similarly dire threat: reliance on foreign oil. Just as President Kennedy responded to Soviet space superiority with a bold commitment, President Bush must respond to the clout of foreign oil by making energy independence a national priority. The president acknowledged as much by touting hydrogen fuel cells in January's State of the Union address. But the $1.2 billion he proposed is a pittance compared to what's needed. Only an Apollo-style effort to replace hydrocarbons with hydrogen can liberate the US to act as a world leader rather than a slave to its appetite for petroleum.    more

WEBCAST of the March 27-28, 2003 Board Hearing

State Holds Line on Cleaner Car Rule 'Zero-emission' Mandate
Mark Martin - San Francisco Chronicle
California Delays Rewriting Nation's Toughest Emissions Rule
Brian Melly    AP/Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
Air Panel Backs Smog-free Cars
Chris Bowman - Sacramento Bee

United Kingdom                                                                            
“The White Paper shows a lack of political courage to make the hard decisions necessary to move this country away from its dependence on fossil fuels. It outlines a future in which nuclear power could be shut down faster than renewables and energy efficiency measures could make up the shortfall.”
Professor David Wallis, vice-president of the Royal Society
commenting on the United Kingdom's new energy plan
"Our Energy Future — Creating a Low Carbon Economy"
released February 24, 2003
Blair Urges Europe to Turn Green with Hope
Anthony Browne     Times (UK)      February 25, 2003

Columbia's Power
The River Contains the Secret to Drive a National Energy Revolution
Jack Robertson              Register-Guard/Bluefish          February 16, 2003

Jack Robertson of Portland worked for the Bonneville Power Administration from 1986 through 1999, serving as acting chief executive officer and deputy CEO. He helped found the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. From 1973 to 1982, he worked on the staff of Oregon Sen. Mark Hatfield in Washington, D.C.

    The mighty Columbia River's nighttime flow holds a remarkable secret. This secret can put the Northwest at the center of a global energy revolution, create thousands of new jobs and help end forever our dependence on Middle East oil.
    While you sleep, the power of the Columbia River can create a revolutionary new energy source - lighter than air, completely renewable, and yet with the highest energy content of any fuel. In the Northwest we can produce this new fuel faster, cleaner and cheaper than anywhere in the world. What's its source?
    Water.
    That's right. The power of the Columbia River can unlock hydrogen from water. It can turn the Northwest into the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen - the revolutionary fuel at the center of President Bush's bold, $1.2 billion proposal to build hydrogen-powered cars and a national hydrogen infrastructure.
    For centuries, people have dreamed of a limitless, clean source of energy. For decades, scientists have known that hydrogen - the most common element in the universe - holds the answer to a global energy revolution.           more     
[CHBC Note: This article has been nominated as one of the most significant recent published works on creating a hydrogen future.]

U.S. Department of Energy Moves Hydrogen Infrastructure Readiness Date Forward to 2015
Jumps ahead 35 YEARS from earlier estimate of 2050!

    "We've concluded that unless we work on parallel tracks, developing the vehicle and the infrastructure concurrently instead of consecutively, this process would take 3 decades or longer.  But with full government backing, helping to coordinate both avenues of research and development simultaneously, we believe that a decision to go forward with commercialization could be made as early as 2015."

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
Energy Secretary Promotes Hydrogen Fuel Initiative
Bob Tipptee, Editor     Oil & Gas Journal     February 12, 2003

A Clean and Secure Energy Future
U.S. Department of Energy/White House     January 28, 2003

    President Bush announced a $1.2 billion FreedomFUEL Initiative to reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology needed for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells - a way to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses that produces no pollution and no greenhouse gases. FreedomFUEL will invest $720 million in new funding over the next five years to develop the technologies and infrastructure needed to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation. Combined with the FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) Initiative, President Bush is proposing a total of $1.7 billion over the next five years to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and advanced automotive technologies.
    The FreedomFUEL Initiative will complement the President's FreedomCAR Initiative, which is developing technologies needed for mass production of safe and affordable hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles.
    Together, FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR will, through partnerships with the private sector, develop new vehicle and fuel technologies and infrastructure needed to make it practical and cost-effective for large numbers of Americans to choose to use fuel cell vehicles by 2020. These initiatives will dramatically improve America's energy security by significantly reducing the need for imported oil. At the same time, these initiatives are key components of the President's clean air and climate change strategies.  

Background on Today's Action

Fuel Cells are a Proven Technology: America's astronauts have used fuel cells to generate electricity since the 1960s, but more work is needed to make them cost-effective for use in cars, trucks, homes or businesses. Using current technologies, it is too expensive to produce, store, transport and distribute hydrogen fuel, or to build fuel cell engines. Additional research and development is needed to spur rapid commercialization of these technologies so they can provide clean, domestically produced energy for transportation and other uses.

FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR Will Overcome Key Technical and Cost Barriers:

Lowering the cost of hydrogen: Currently, hydrogen is four times as expensive to produce as gasoline (when produced from its most affordable source, natural gas). FreedomFUEL seeks to lower that cost enough to make fuel cell cars cost-competitive with conventional gasoline-powered vehicles by 2010; and to advance the methods of producing hydrogen from renewable resources, nuclear energy, and even coal.

Creating effective hydrogen storage: Current hydrogen storage systems are inadequate for use in the wide range of vehicles that consumers demand. Creating affordable hydrogen fuel cells: Currently, fuel cells are ten times more expensive than internal combustion engines. The FreedomCAR Initiative is working to reduce the cost to affordable levels. America's Energy Security is Threatened by Our Dependence on Foreign Oil:

America currently imports 55 percent of the oil it consumes; that is expected to grow to 68 percent by 2025. Nearly all of our cars and trucks currently run on gasoline, and they are the main reason America imports so much oil. Two-thirds of the 20 million barrels of oil Americans use each day is used for transportation; fuel cell vehicles offer the best hope of dramatically reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

FreedomFUEL Will Help Ensure America's Energy Independence:
Through FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR, the federal government, automakers and energy companies will work together to overcome the technological and financial barriers to the successful development of commercially viable, emissions-free fuel cell vehicles that require no foreign oil. Hydrogen is domestically available in abundant quantities as a component of natural gas, coal, biomass, and even water. The Department of Energy estimates that the FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR Initiatives may reduce our demand for foreign petroleum by over 11 million barrels per day by 2040. America currently imports between 10 and 11 million barrels of oil daily.

Fuel Cells Will Improve Air Quality and Dramatically Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Vehicles are a significant source of air pollution in America's cities and urban corridors. Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity to power cars without producing any pollution. The FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR Initiatives may reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions from transportation alone by more than 500 million metric tons of carbon equivalent each year by 2040. Additional emissions reductions could be achieved by using fuel cells in other applications, such as generating electricity for residential or commercial uses.

Hydrogen is the Key to a Clean Energy Future: It has the highest energy content per unit of weight of any known fuel. When burned in an engine, hydrogen produces effectively zero emissions; when powering a fuel cell, its only waste is pure water. Hydrogen can be produced from abundant domestic resources including natural gas, coal, biomass, and even water. Combined with other technologies such as carbon capture and storage, renewable energy and fusion energy, fuel cells could make an emissions-free energy future possible.

FreedomFUEL Complements President Bush's FreedomCAR Initiative: In 2002, President Bush launched FreedomCAR, a partnership with automakers to advance high-technology research needed to produce practical, affordable hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that American consumers will want to buy and drive. FreedomFUEL will develop technologies for hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure needed to power fuel cell vehicles and stationary fuel cell power sources.

President Bush's Budget Provides Strong Support for FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR: President Bush proposes $1.7 billion in funding for FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR over the next five years, including $720 million in new funding for FreedomFUEL. The President's FY 2004 budget request for hydrogen and fuel cell research and development and advanced automotive technologies through the Freedom Fuel and FreedomCAR programs is $273 million.

For more information on the President's initiatives, please visit www.whitehouse.gov

UNITED STATES TO PURSUE MAGNETIC
HYDROGEN FUSION ENERGY
Bush Administration Endorses International ITER Project

• US and China Join Fusion Project   BBC (UK)   February 25, 2003

COULD ISRAEL BECOME A PROTOTYPE FOR THE U.S. HYDROGEN ECONOMY?

A high-level international conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructures and the American Jewish Congress will examine converting Israel to a hydrogen economy and renewable energy technology manufacturing powerhouse for the Middle East. 

GO TO NEW WEB SITE BUILT WITH ASSISTANCE OF THE CALIFORNIA HYDROGEN BUSINESS COUNCIL

Drilling for Freedom
by Thomas L. Friedman   The New York Times     October 20, 2002

    There are two ways for a government to get rich in the Middle East. One is by drilling a sand dune and the other is by drilling the talents, intelligence, creativity and energy of its men and women. As long as the autocratic leaders of Iran, Iraq or Saudi Arabia can get rich by drilling their natural resources, they can stay in power a long, long time. All they have to do is capture control of the oil tap. Only when a government has to drill its human resources will it organize itself in a way that enables it to extract those talents — with modern education, open trade, and freedom of thought, of scientific enquiry and of the press.
    For all these reasons, if we really want to hasten the transition from autocracy to something more democratic in places like Iraq or Iran, the most important thing we can do is gradually, but steadily, bring down the price of oil — through conservation and alternative energies.
    I know that Dick Cheney thinks conservation is for sissies. Real men send B-52's. But he's dead wrong. In the Middle East, conservation and alternative energies are strategic tools. Ronald Reagan helped bring down the Soviet Union by using two tactics: he delegitimized the Soviets and he defueled them. He delegitimized them by branding the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire," and by exposing its youth to what was going on elsewhere in the world, and he defueled them by so outspending them on Star Wars that the Soviet Union went bankrupt. In the Middle East today, the Bush team is delegitimizing the worst regimes as an "axis of evil," but it is doing nothing to defuel them. Just the opposite. We refuel them with our big cars.
    Which was the first and only real Arab democracy? Lebanon. Which Arab country had no oil? Lebanon. Which is the first Arab oil state to turn itself into a constitutional monarchy? Bahrain. Which is the first Arab oil state to run out of oil? Bahrain.
    Ousting Saddam is necessary for promoting the spread of democracy in the Middle East, but it won't be sufficient, it won't stick, without the Mideast states kicking their oil dependency and without us kicking ours.

"If businesses start taking an offensive instead of a defensive attitude to environmental issues, then many opportunities appear."

• Japan's Yakushima Island To Lead World In Hydrogen Energy Use
  by Shigeo Masui    Daily Yomuri (Japan)     October 11, 2002

• Zero Emissions from Yakushima

The Hydrogen Balm?
Business Week          September 30, 2002

Hawai'i's Future Requires Technology-based Growth
Shelley M. Mark     Honolulu Advertiser     December 8, 2002

    As we criss-cross our islands, we are struck by the contradiction between our abundance of renewable energy resources and our dependence on imported fuels to meet our energy needs.
    Hydrogen fuel cells produced from our vast renewable energy resources can reduce Hawai'i's dependence on fossil fuels, promote higher energy efficiencies and eventually bring down the price of gasoline for our consumers. Specifically, there is need for a comprehensive engineering and market study for the production of hydrogen cells in Hawai'i, using actual cost data from industry.
    By coming together in a common purpose — business, labor, academics, communities and government — we can achieve our goals and realize our vision. As we see it, the key is the knowledge we have attained, the technological progress we have made, and our respect for the natural beauty that has made Hawai'i so special.

Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability
Energy for a Greenhouse Planet - Science
Volume 298, Number 5595, Issue of 1 Nov 2002, pp. 981-987

Apollo Program for Energy?
Is it feasible to replace fossil fuels with cleaner sources of energy? A new study concludes that it could be done with enough “political will” and what the lead researcher described as a global effort pursued with the same urgency as the Apollo space program.
by Miguel Llanos     MSNBC     October 31, 2002

Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability:
Energy for a Greenhouse Planet - Science
Volume 298, Number 5595, Issue of 1 Nov 2002, pp. 981-987

    Italian MEP Francesco Fiori is calling for the EU to actively support alternative fuels through a programme of research, promotion and tax exemption. ...Fiori’s report calls for greater support for hydrogen research and development, urging tax exemption for fuel cell research. It also recommends strengthening the infrastructure for hydrogen distribution and storage to ensure Europe becomes a world leader in the production of alternative-fuelled vehicles. To achieve these goals, says Fiori, the European Commission should draw up an action plan of encouragement and tax incentives for gas fuels.

20. Encourages the implementation of pilot and demonstration projects for natural gas, fuel cells and hydrogen, such as the project co-funded by the Commission for the deployment of 30 hydrogen-powered buses in ten European cities; ....

The European Thematic Network on Hydrogen

Hydrogen

Can It Fuel Hawaii's Future?

by Kelli Abe Trifonovitch     

Hawaii Business Journal          September 2002

"We want people to say ‘hydrogen’ and ‘Hawaii’ in the same breath.”
Representative Mina Morita
Hawaiian House Chair, Energy and Environmental Protection

    “Our niche, I think, will be that we can leapfrog the technology by generating hydrogen primarily from renewable sources of energy,” says Maurice Kaya, administrator of the Energy Resources and Technology Division of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). “The emphasis on fuel cells and hydrogen elsewhere is largely being based on reforming natural gas to be put into fuel cells.”
    Last year, Gov. Ben Cayetano signed Act 283, appropriating $200,000 for hydrogen development and research. The act says that the federal government spends an average of $18 million annually for hydrogen research and development and puts the market capitalization of fuel-cell companies that use hydrogen as a fuel source at more than $10 billion. DBEDT used the appropriation to contract with the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, which has been recognized by the DOE as a hydrogen research center of excellence. The natural energy institute partnered with SenTech Corp. of Maryland to produce a report on the feasibility of hydrogen and fuel- cell use in Hawaii.
    The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute/SenTech report says, “The state of Hawaii with its vast renewable energy resources, energy expertise, critical need for greater fuel diversity and stated policy to achieve increased energy self-sufficiency, provides a natural ‘testbed’ for hydrogen and fuel-cell research; and could also significantly benefit, both environmentally and economically, from the utilization of hydrogen in the state’s transportation and power-generation sectors.”
    Since then, the natural-energy institute has laid the groundwork to set some major demonstration projects into motion, including partnerships with some of the big hydrogen players such as Connecticut-based UTC Fuel Cells, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), and Canada’s Stuart Energy Systems (TSE:HHO) as well as local utilities, such as the Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. (HECO) and Hawaiian Electric Light Co. (HELCO), subsidiaries of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (NYSE:HE) and The Gas Co.     more

“Hawaii’s a fantastic place to prove the hydrogen economy. … because fuel prices are so high, because Hawaii is not connected to the rest of the country in terms of the grid, because there’s so much renewable energy resources here – solar, wind, geothermal – even more so on the Big Island, where you have an excess of power during peak periods, you can be using that to convert it to hydrogen. So it’s a perfect way to kick-start the hydrogen economy.”
Dustin Shindo
president and chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific Inc.

Representative Mina Morita
Hawaiian House Chair, Energy and Environmental Protection
Hydrogen  for Hawaii
Presentation to Fall 2000 CHBC Meeting
California Air Resources Board Headquarters, Sacramento
Quicktime by VIMS          get quicktime

Latest Partner Gets Fuel-cell Work Started
Ben DiPietro    Pacific Business News (HI)    December 13, 2002

    The facility will focus on using fuel cells in transportation applications, with a focus on military and commercial uses, said Rick Rocheleau, director of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. Part of that new money is being used to find research partners. The UH center received $2 million in funding in 2002, mostly from the Office of Naval Research, and will receive $2.6 million for use in 2003.
    "UTC Fuel Cells is providing infrastructure development, technical know-how, management and training help to help us form other partnerships," Rocheleau said. "Hawaiian Electric is providing the site and some infrastructure development. Stuart Energy will help with hydrogen production. ONR [Office of Naval Research] is providing the bulk of the funding for this project. The paperwork for [the Stuart] agreement just went out this week to provide on-site hydrogen production."
    It's the first time UTC is allowing one of its fuel-cell test stands to be used outside of one of its own facilities.

Ford Decision May Boost Hawaii Hydrogen Fuel Cell Industry
Pacific Business News (HI)    September 2, 2002
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 DOE March 2008

Oil Change International 2007

Greenpeace 2007

Future Investment
EREC/Greenpeace 
July 2007

Chernobyl Catastrophe
Greenpeace 2007

Endless Energy Project -  GLOBE 2007

World Energy Tech Outlook 2050
European Commission 2007

Potential Hydrogen Communities in Europe Institute for Energy
January 2007

A New Energy Future
Environment California
2006

The Hydrogen Economy
UN Environment Programme 2006

Renewable Hydrogen
Clean Energy Group
2006

HyWays - A European Roadmap 2006
L-B-Systemtechnik

Manufacturing R&D for the Hydrogen Economy DOE 2006

Nuclear Power
No Solution to Climate Change  FOE 2005

A Global Survey of Hydrogen Energy Research
Development & Policy
Center for Energy and Environment Policy
April 2004

Electrolytic Hydrogen Production   NREL

Hydrogen Posture Plan
U.S. Dept of Energy

The Hydrogen Highway
Illinois Coalition

Wells-to-Wheels
Analysis of Future Fuels
European Union

The Hydrogen Economy
U.S. National Research Council 2004

Arizona Public Service
Alternative Fuel/H2 Pilot
Plant Design Report
DOE FreedomCar 2003

2003 Integrated Energy
Policy Report
California Energy
Commission

Research and Current
Activities
U.S Climate Change Technology Program 

Transitioning
To a Renewable
Energy Future
European Union

Hydrogen Energy
and Fuel Cells
European Union

Great Transition
Global Scenario Group 2002