Air Products\' Hydrogen Fueling Technology Now in Operation in Washington, D.C.

Air Products' hydrogen fueling technology was an integral part of an historic event mid of November as Shell Hydrogen officially opened North America's first-ever hydrogen filling station at an existing retail gasoline site in Washington, D.C. The Benning Road demonstration project makes Shell the first energy company in North America to provide the environmentally friendly fuel at a consumer retail site, alongside conventional fuels. Initially, it will provide fuel for six GM Hydrogen3 fuel cell vehicles participating in this Shell-General Motors partnership demonstration project.

"This is a milestone demonstration project, and Air Products is very proud to be the hydrogen fueling equipment and technology supplier to Shell for North America's first integrated hydrogen and gasoline station," said Tama Copeman, director of Future Energy Solutions at Air Products. "Shell and General Motors are to be commended for their approach to this project, which included establishing an educational visitor's center. Through all of these efforts, hydrogen as an energy-carrier will gain a greater public understanding."

Shell Hydrogen and General Motors are combining resources to help make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a commercially viable reality. The Washington, D.C. initiative represents an important step forward in the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. "Today marks the next major step in Shell Hydrogen's effort to make a substantial advance and move research further into reality," said Jeremy Bentham, chief executive officer of Shell Hydrogen. "The Benning Road station in Washington, D.C. represents a real-world urban- driving scenario to demonstrate hydrogen cars and refueling."

Air Products' Series 200 fueling technology, a totally integrated vehicle fueling system, will provide the storage and dispensing of hydrogen to the vehicles. This Air Products fueling technology is designed to meet early vehicle fleet fueling requirements by providing the customer flexibility of using hydrogen generated on-site or from a distributed hydrogen supply. The hydrogen fueling facility in Washington, D.C. has the capacity to dispense 20 kilograms of gaseous hydrogen per day and also provides a dispenser for liquid hydrogen vehicle fueling.

Ultra-Low Emissions Fuel Cell To Feed Power to Local Distribution System

Caterpillar Inc., FuelCell Energy, Inc. and the city of Westerville, Ohio have reached an important milestone, bringing on-line one of the first utility-scale fuel cell power plants in North America that will feed power to consumers from a substation.

The 250-kilowatt (kW) DFC power plant creates the hydrogen it needs from a readily available fuel, natural gas. The unit is manufactured by FuelCell Energy and distributed by Caterpillar through its dealer Ohio Cat. The fuel cell power plant is located at Westerville's electric substation #2, and when fully operational it will produce enough energy to power approximately 180 homes in Westerville.

This innovative project is a first for the state of Ohio and it was funded in part through Governor Bob Taft's Third Frontier Fuel Cell Initiative, a $103 million dollar program that aims to position Ohio as a national leader in the growing fuel cell industry.

"This project demonstrates how public-private partnerships can work to bring new and emerging technologies to consumers today," said Herbert T. Nock, FuelCell Energy's senior vice president of marketing and sales." "The state of Ohio and the city of Westerville are showing how Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plants which create hydrogen internally, can be used to bring clean, reliable power to the people of Ohio without waiting for the development of a hydrogen supply infrastructure."

Experimental Operation of Second-Generation Home Energy Station (HES II)

Plug Power Inc. and Honda R&D Americas announced in November that they have began successful operation of the second-generation Home Energy Station (HES II) located at Plug Power's corporate headquarters in Latham, New York.

HES II is the further evolution of a joint development effort by Honda and Plug Power to produce a home refueling unit that provides hydrogen from natural gas for vehicle refueling, heat for domestic hot water use and electricity for the home. Testing of the HES II system will be done in conjunction with demonstration of Honda's 2005 FCX fuel cell car on public roads in the Northeastern U.S.

The development of this new, more compact, HES II, along with operation of the Honda FCX and Honda FC Stack in sub-zero temperatures, represent significant advancements in this industry-leading program to develop advanced, real world, fuel cell vehicle and hydrogen refueling solutions.

"Honda is taking a comprehensive approach that includes the development of both fuel cell and refueling technologies," said Ben Knight, Vice President Honda R&D Americas. "We feel that home refueling could play an important role in the introduction of fuel cell technology and the development of a hydrogen refueling infrastructure." "We have enormous respect for Honda's technical capabilities and are excited to be part of this collaboration," said Dr. Roger Saillant, President and Chief Executive Officer of Plug Power. "The development of a Home Energy Station represents an important milestone towards a hydrogen infrastructure and sustainable energy future."

By testing the HES II in conjunction with the 2005 Honda FCX, Honda is taking another step forward in its comprehensive approach to advancement of both the vehicle and refueling infrastructure components of a hydrogen-based transportation system. Honda began demonstration of its 2005 FCX with the Honda FC Stack on public roads in the Northeast in September of this year.

The 2005 FCX, the world's most advanced fuel cell vehicle, is the first production fuel cell vehicle to be powered by Honda's own unique fuel cell stack (Honda FC Stack) with the ability to start and operate in below-freezing temperatures, a significant breakthrough in fuel cell vehicle technology.

GTI Converts Ethanol into Hydrogen

Ethanol produced from corn grown in the US Midwest could be providing hydrogen for the fuel cell vehicles of tomorrow. Gas Technology Institute (GTI) announced end of October that its two-step steam reforming-shift fuel processor can efficiently convert ethanol into hydrogen. For the past six months, GTI engineers have been performing internal research to demonstrate the potential of its fuel processor technology to generate hydrogen from a variety of renewable fuels.

"We believe GTI is now strongly positioned to develop and deploy both stationary and transportation energy systems utilizing ethanol to hydrogen reformation," stated Gerry Runte, Executive Director of GTI's Hydrogen Systems Center. "We were able to produce a high-quality hydrogen gas from ethanol - similar to results using natural gas - and demonstrated our process to representatives of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)."

RFA President Bob Dinneen stated: "We believe ethanol can play an important role in fueling the future hydrogen economy. Ethanol has been proven to be more efficient and easier to reform into hydrogen than gasoline. And as a domestic, renewable fuel, ethanol used for hydrogen will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security compared to fossil fuels."

One GTI goal is to utilize ethanol as the primary fuel to produce hydrogen in a hydrogen fueling station platform similar to the natural gas-to-hydrogen station being developed by GTI under a United States Department of Energy sponsored program. GTI is also pursuing the use of ethanol for stationary fuel cell demonstrations. "Ethanol has the potential to be an integral part of the emerging hydrogen economy. Its properties make it an excellent liquid fuel for the extraction of hydrogen," said Runte.

GTI is working with industry partners to commercialize hydrogen fueling station systems and would like to expand that work to include systems that utilize ethanol to produce hydrogen. "It is likely that a variety of feed stocks will be used to produce distributed hydrogen depending on the region of the country. Certainly, there can be benefits to utilizing renewable fuels like ethanol, particularly in the Midwest," said William Liss, Director of Hydrogen Systems at GTI.

Complementary to its forty years of experience in fuel cells, GTI has over three decades of experience in converting a variety of fuels into hydrogen. This unique experience and background made it possible to create a successful ethanol to hydrogen system in a short period of time. GTI's fuel processor technology uses minimum components for low cost and simplicity. This includes an optional passive carbon monoxide (CO) control system that consistently produces less than 4 ppm CO without requiring complicated control systems. The unit is adaptable to use either fuel cell anode recycle gas or pressure swing adsorption off-gas recovery for efficient supplemental heat generation.

Schwarzenegger Unveils First BP-Branded Retail-Designed Hydrogen Site In US

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, officially dedicated the state's first retail-designed hydrogen demonstration refueling station, at a BP-branded site at Los Angeles International Airport. The station has been developed in partnership with Praxair, South Coast Air Quality Management District and Los Angeles World Airport and will provide hydrogen for five DaimlerChrysler fuel cell cars.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony end of October, Ross Pillari, President, BP America, said: "The opening of this hydrogen demonstration site is an important step to meeting the future energy needs of California. It is also an important milestone for us in BP and for the US. It, along with other development projects, will bring the day when hydrogen can be made widely available to customers a step closer.”

Carol Battershell, BP's Director of Alternative Fuels added: "Today's celebration reflects our belief in the potential hydrogen offers for wide- scale emission-free transport. And while the day when that may be possible is still sometime away, projects such as this demonstrate what we can do today to provide the fuels of tomorrow."

BP, which markets its traditional fuels in California under the ARCO brand, is also working in partnership with the US Department of Energy, DaimlerChrysler and Ford to develop further hydrogen refueling stations in several US states. Elsewhere in the world, the company is a participant in a pan-European nine-city fuel cell bus project and has signed an agreement with the Chinese Government to develop hydrogen demonstration fueling facilities to support fuel cell buses in Beijing, in time for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Los Angeles Airport project brings BP's worldwide involvement in hydrogen sites to 12. Earlier this week, the company unveiled the first hydrogen refueling facility to be built under the DOE's fuel cell and infrastructure validation program, at the DTE Energy Hydrogen Technology Park in Detroit.

Dana Corporation Showcases Fuel-Cell Advancements

Dana Corporation unveiled a number of new fuel-cell advancements at the Convergence 2004 automotive electronics show in Detroit in October. The advancements were featured on a fuel-cell scooter developed with Dana partners. One of just three in the world, the scooter was making its North American debut at Convergence.

Dana developed a number of fuel-cell components on the scooter, including bi-polar plates, end caps, heat exchangers, pumps, and valves. Since it was first unveiled in April 2004 at the Hannover Industrial Fair in Germany, the scooter now features an improved, composite-bonded bi-polar plate.

Dana Chairman and CEO Michael J. Burns said, "The valuable product and system knowledge Dana gained with this project will benefit our fuel-cell customers and partners as we take the next steps toward developing technically and commercially viable fuel-cell components for stationary and automotive applications."

Over the course of the project, Dana engineers developed several inventions, including two patentable discoveries. The sealing technology developed for the composite bi-polar plates is currently being provided to a customer for a residential fuel-cell application. The metal plate seal design also offers a low-cost option for high-volume production.

"Dana has an established global network of support centers for fuel-cell research, each with a specific area of product expertise," said Mike Laisure, president of Dana's Automotive Systems Group. "Our goal is to help fuel-cell integrators succeed by making this a commercially viable power source for the future."

Combining expertise from the institute Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung (ZSW) and motorcycle manufacturer Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH (MZ), Dana scientists and engineers developed future-generation fuel-cell components that were incorporated into scooters.

ZSW functionally integrated the stack, controls, and hydrogen fueling system. A research institute working in the field of renewable energies and electrochemical energy technology, ZSW, of Ulm, Germany, has nearly 15 years of experience in fuel cell design, operation, and testing.

The scooter is based on the Charly battery-powered scooter built and supplied by MZ of Zschopau-Hohndorf, Germany. In addition to providing the scooter, MZ assisted in providing custom designed frames, bodywork, and wiring to support the fuel-cell system.