Clean H2 Vehicles Program on Track, But Many Challenges, Says New NRC Report WASHINGTON, DC - A new report by the National Research Council assessing the government’s FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership program says the project is on the right track and has correctly identified all major hurdles that need to be to be overcome.
Correction: Van Hool Bus manufacturer Van Hool was mistakenly identified as a Dutch company in the August 2005 issue (“UTC Fuel Cells Upgrades PAFC Stationary Plant Design, Eyes Future 400 kW Version”). Van Hool is a Belgian company, located in Koningshooikt, near the city of Lier.
Briefly Noted: New California Solar Plant Southern California Edison, a Rosemead, CA-based subsidiary of Edison International that describes itself as the nation’s leading buyer of renewable energy, says it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Stirling Energy Systems, Phoenix, AZ that could lead to the construction of a massive solar generating station of ultimately 4,500 acres.
Briefly Noted: GE Energy Hybrid Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine Atlanta-based GE Energy has won a U.S. Energy Department contract to develop a very efficient 100 MW hybrid fuel cell-gas turbine power plant, the company announced.
Briefly Noted: S. Korean Hydrogen Economy Plans South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Economy has drawn up a blueprint that calls for the country to become a functioning hydrogen economy by 2040. A second Yonhap story five days later quoted the country’s Ministry of Science and Economy as saying that South Korea will work together with the United States to develop a next-generation nuclear reactor that is expected to produce large amounts of hydrogen.
Briefly Noted: Ballard Fork Lift Fuel Cells Expanding horizons, but the plot thickens: Ballard Power Systems, Vancouver, BC, has been picked to provide 27 Mk 902 4.8 kW fuel cells to Cellex Power Products for a round of beta trials of fork lift trucks.
Briefly Noted: Linde Gas/Proton Energy Systems Linde Gas, the Cleveland, OH-based U.S. subsidiary of Germany’s Linde AG’s gas and engineering division, has signed an agreement with Proton Energy Systems, Inc. to distribute the company’s line of HOGEN on-site hydrogen generation systems.
Briefly Noted: Fuel Cells 2000 Survey An updated survey by Fuel Cells 2000 says there are now more than two thousand fuel cells operating worldwide in more than 26 countries.
Briefly Noted: Viaspace Methanol Cartriges VIASPACE Inc., a Pasadena, CA-based spinoff from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is jumping into the micro fuel cell fray with the announcement that its subsidiary, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corp., has designed a new plastic methanol fuel cell cartridge.
Briefly Noted: Juelich Kerosene Air-Craft Reformer The German Research Center Juelich has developed a new compact plug-and-play reformer for aircraft kerosene fuel to produce hydrogen-rich fuel gas for on-board auxiliary power units (APUs), but also to produce drinking water for onboard use.
Briefly Noted: Avalence Award Milford, CT-based Avalence LLC, a start-up developer of advanced ultra high-pressure hydrogen generating equipment has been awarded a $750,000 Phase II DoE contract.
Briefly Noted: Hydrogen Fueling Centers An architect in New Canaan, CT has launched a multi-company alliance to design and build prototype hydrogen fueling information centers in key locations.
Briefly Noted: Ashland's Artillery Fuel Cell The Alexandria, VA-based Ashland Group says it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army’s Armament, Research and Engineering Center to produce and demonstrate the performance of 120 copies of Ashland’s proprietary PEM fuel cell, the PEMERY (TM) P-100, for use as “post-launch power source for the Army’s Multi-Option Fuze Artillery (MOFA).”
Book Review: PEM Fuel Cells: Theory and Practice Reviewed by Richard Engel Frano Barbir brings considerable expertise to the subject of PEM fuel cells, having authored or co-authored some 100 publications on the subject and holding multiple fuel cell-related patents. His credentials in academia and industry qualify him to discuss both the theoretical and practical aspects of fuel cells, as suggested by this new volume’s title. Of the numerous books on fuel cells I have seen come through our lab in the past few years, I find this one the most useful.
Opportunities: EC "HyWays" Members The European Commission-funded “HyWays” project - “The Development and Detailed Evaluation of a Harmonised 'European Hydrogen Energy Roadmap'” - is seeking an additional 4 to 6 partners from European Union states.
Opportunities: H2U Student Design Contest This year’s H2U Student Design Contest, sponsored by the National Hydrogen Association, challenges university students to design hydrogen storage systems predicated on intermittent power from wind turbines.
Events The "26th Risø International Symposium on Materials Science - Solid State Electrochemistry" is scheduled for Sept. 4-8 at Risø National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark.
