Perspective: Criticism, Praise for NRC H2 Economy Study; Media Coverage is Faulted A prestigious national organization - The National Academies/The National Research Council - undertakes a long-gestating, detailed study of a highly charged subject - the Hydrogen Economy - and comes up with a massive document that, in its effort to be evenhanded and encyclopedically inclusive, leaves many dissatisfied, either with the product itself or with the reaction to it.
General Motors & Dow Inaugurate Biggest- Yet PEM Fuel Cell Project FREEPORT, TX - By-product hydrogen moved a step closer as fuel for industrial electricity production with the flip of a switch, activating a General Motors fuel cell at the sprawling Dow chemical complex here last month.
International Consortium Starts 5-Year 1.2 MW Fuel Cell Locomotive Project DENVER, CO - Engineering design work will get underway in a little more than two months for the world's first megawatt-class fuel cell locomotive, a project launched here last year by an international consortium (H&FCL Sept. 03).
U. Minnesota Researchers Develop Alcohol-Based Hydrogen Generator MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, MN - Take an ordinary automotive fuel injector, add some appropriate catalyst material, attach to a preheated glass tube, and what do you get? Presto, a powerful chemical reactor the length of an ear of corn that turns alcohol into hydrogen.
Japan Now Ahead of U.S. in Fuel Cell Patents, Says 1 of 3 New Surveys LONDON - The United States was by far the world leader in the number of fuel cell patents issued between 1991 and 2000, but since then, Japan has assumed the lead as the number of new filings skyrocketed, a new survey shows.
Honda Claims Cold-Start Breakthrough for Hybrid Fuel Cell FCX TORRANCE, CA - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. reports a successful cold-weather test and demonstration of its FCX hybrid fuel cell vehicle and Honda fuel cell stack in the cold northern island of Hokkaido.
Researchers Devise Double-Duty Fuel Cell: Produce Power and Clean Effluent UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -A team of three environmental engineers at Penn State here have demonstrated a double-duty microbial fuel cell (MFC) that cleans wastewater flushing down the drain while at the same time generating electricity.
Briefly Noted: Acceptance Study ongoing five-country public perceptions survey of hydrogen-powered buses indicates that support for hydrogen and fuel cells is generally high, but that knowledge about them is rather low.
Briefly Noted: DoE Workshops series of educational hydrogen workshops organized by the U.S. Energy Department will kick off this month, March 26, in Lansing, MI
Briefly Noted: Hydrogenics partnering with Purolator Courier Canada Ltd. to develop and deploy a fuel cell hybrid delivery van and an on-site hydrogen refueling system
Briefly Noted: IdaTech/RWE IdaTech and RWE Fuel Cells, a subsidiary of Germany large RWE utility, Essen, will jointly install two natural gas-fueled 5 kW combined heat and power fuel cell systems
Briefly Noted: CSA/Standards develop new standards on an accelerated schedule for hydrogen gas dispensing systems and pressure relief devices for hydrogen fuel containers.
Briefly Noted: Medis start distributing its first fuel cell product, a disposable liquid fuel power pack charger for cell phones, by the end of this year.
Briefly Noted: Air Liquide/Messer-Griesheim France's Air Liquide is acquiring a large part of the German industrial gas company Messer Griesheim - specifically, business activities in Germany, Britain and the United States - for about Euro 2.68 billion ($3.31 billion).
Events A series of seminars, "Micro Fuel Cell Regulations, Standards & Compliance," are scheduled for February 23-24 (Irvine, CA), March 25-26 (Washington, DC), May 24-25 (Hartford, CT) and June 17-18 (Vancouver, BC). Details: CBI Research, Woburn, MA phone 800/817-8601;
