May 2004

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

Interest in China’s clean energy potential continues to grow following the country’s debut last month at the Hannover hydrogen and fuel cell exhibit: International hydrogen and fuel cell technologists will interact this month with high-level movers and shakers in politics and business at Beijing’s “HYFORUM 2004,” the second conference of the series launched in Munich four years ago (H&FCL Oct. 00). Organized once more by the German Forum fuer Zukunftsenergien (Forum for Future Energies) together with the China Association for Hydrogen Energy, the May 25-28 event is being sponsored by major global corporations such as DaimlerChrysler; General Motors; General Electric; the BMW Group; Volkswagen; BP; Deutsche Bank; Linde; Ruhrgas; KPMG, an international provider of insurance, tax, legal, and financial advisory services; and others in addition to China’s Dongfeng Electric Vehicle company. China’s Minister for Science and Technology, Xu Guan Hua, and Germany’s Transportation Minister Manfred Stolpe will welcome the participants. Confirmed speakers include Byron McCormick, General Motors’ chief fuel cell executive; John Mogford, BP group vice president for renewables and alternatives; Herbert Kohler, DaimlerChrysler chief environmental officer; Guenther Hanreich, the European Commission’s director of new energies; Christoph Huss, BMW’s senior vice president science and traffic policy; and Norbert Walter, chairman of Deutsche Bank Research. HYFORUM was originally scheduled for last fall but the SARS outbreak in China at that time forced postponement. At the time of writing (late April), international media reported a few new isolated SARS cases traced to a research laboratory, but causing little concern among public health experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) and elsewhere, according to the New York Times. For possible updates, consult the conference website, www.hyforum.org.