Praxair LH2 Truck Leak Causes Fire at Ballard Facility, Truck Damage is Minimal VANCOUVER, B.C. - A malfunctioning automatic shut off valve and leak on a Praxair 18-wheeler liquid hydrogen tanker truck appears to be the most likely cause of a hydrogen explosion and fire that occurred in early August at a Ballard Power Systems facility in Burnaby.
Infrastructure: S. Calif.’s AQMD Opens H2 Station, Orders Equipment for 3 Others DIAMOND BAR, CA - Highlighting international interest in California’s clean air activities, diplomats from a dozen countries along with area officials were on hand to witness the formal opening here of one of the first hydrogen fueling stations open to the public in California last month.
With oil prices reaching an anguish-provoking $49/barrel or so last month, it could be you ain’t heard nothing yet: How does $182 a barrel grab you?
That’s the number Matt Simmons, head and founder of an internationally respected 30-year old energy investment bank, Simmons & Company International, Houston, has been throwing out in some recent presentations, including at a late-May conference on the study of peak oil in Berlin, according to an opinion piece on energy security in the Aug. 23 on-line version of India’s “Business Line,” the financial daily of “The Hindu.”
Fuel Cell Partnership Releases Safety Study for Hydrogen Vehicle Garages, Facilities WEST SACRAMENTO, CA - Current garage designs are likely to be safe to house and service future hydrogen fuel cell (HFCVs) and hydrogen i.c. vehicles without modifications, according to a 2-year study commissioned by the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP).
DoE NewsOn-Board Generation R&D Stops WASHINGTON, DC - In hindsight, it seems like a foregone conclusion: Based on the recommendations of a review panel, the U.S. Energy Department decided last month to halt all work on on-board fuel processor research and development for fuel cell vehicles that had looked at the idea of extracting hydrogen from gasoline.
Briefly Noted: Princeton Stop-Warming Study A new study by two Princeton University scientists says 15 technologies exist that could stop the rise of global warming, and work on implementing them could start immediately.
Briefly Noted: Norwegian Nukes-for-Hydrogen Assessment Meanwhile, a new Norwegian study asserts that despite low carbon dioxide emissions, nuclear power is a bad choice to produce hydrogen when compared with extracting it from natural gas with carbon capture.
Briefly Noted: FuelCell Energy/Kawasaki FuelCell Energy, Inc. and its Japanese partner, Marubeni Corp., are about to sign an agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries under which Kawasaki would become a packager of FuelCell Energy’s trademarked DirectFuelCell molten carbonate power plants in Japan.
Briefly Noted: Hydrogen Energy Center A new Iowa company staffed by veterans from Ballard Power Systems and Ford Motor Co. has introduced what it says is the world’s first production-ready hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine.
Briefly Noted: Honda Scooter Honda Motor Co. says it has developed a scooter powered by a light compact fuel cell stack.
Briefly Noted: Proton Energy/GE On again, but then off again: A distribution agreement between Proton Energy Systems Inc and General Electric, that is.
Briefly Noted: Smart Fuel Cell/FuelCellStore.com Boulder’s FuelCellStore.com is already selling the brand-new SFC A50 fuel cell battery charger just unveiled by its manufacturer, Munich-based Smart Fuel Cell
Briefly Noted: Fideris Lynntech Industries, Inc., the fuel cell testing systems spinoff from College Station, TX-based Lynntech Inc. (H&FCL July 04), has been renamed FiderisTM Inc.
Briefly Noted: Medis Technologies/General Dynamics New York’s Medis Technologies, Ltd. reports it has received an order from General Dynamics C4 Systems for five prototype fuel cell power packs and fuel cartridges
Briefly Noted: QuestAir QuestAir Technologies., Inc., the Canadian developer of gas cleanup technology, won two hydrogen purification contracts last month.
Briefly Noted: NHA Contest Once again, the National Hydrogen Association’s (NHA) annual design contest is getting underway.
Cold Fusion Advocate Gene Mallove is Killed, Victim in Suspected Robbery CONCORD, NH/NORWICH, CT - With great dismay, H&FCL has belatedly learned of the shocking death of Eugene F. Mallove, Sc.D., the internationally known expert and advocate of low-temperature nuclear reactions and founder and editor of the field’s principal voice, “Infinite Energy” magazine.
Events The “2004 International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Futures Conference” is scheduled for Sept. 12-15 at the Burswood International Resort, Western Australia.
