Issue
0203 
Issue
0203
The latest from the hydrogen and fuel cell markets
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Stuart to supply hydrogen fueling station to CUTE project
Family Safety Products explore new market
Hydrogen
in the soaps
New study: Portable fuel cells
Hydrogen Expo USA: Growing interest among politics
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In his State of the Union Address on January 28, George Bush announced additional financial support for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The "FreedomFUEL" initiative is meant to reverse America's growing dependence on oil imports from politically instable regions. The five-year program aims at putting 1.2 billion US dollars towards the development of emission-free propulsion based on hydrogen fuel cells. Together with "FreedomCAR", FreedomFUEL is to lay the foundation for a competitive H2 infrastructure by 2020, with both programs totaling 1.7 billion USD in funding. "Our goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the enviroment", said the US-President in his speech and under applause went on: "I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to produce energy at home." According to information released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the country currently imports 55% of the oil it consumes. That is expected to grow to 68% by 2025. The biggest portion of this goes to the transportation sector, which uses 2/3 of the 20 million barrels consumed each day. Hydrogen fueled vehicles are said to offer the best alternative to gasoline and diesel. The DOE estimates that the FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR initiatives may reduce the demand on foreign oil by over 11 million barels per day by 2040, which is about the same amount the United States import daily. At the same time, the program shall reduce greenhouse gas emission from transportation by more than 500 million metric tons of carbon equivalent each year by 2040. Fuel cell stocks surged in the wake of the President's address. Plug Power gained 25,05%, Ballard rose to 11,25%, FuelCellEnergy to 13,86%, and Hydrogenics gained 11,49%. The National Hydrogen Assocation (NHA), along with several industry leaders committed to developing new energy and propulsion technologies, welcomed the proposed intiative, which comes right in time for the NHA's Annual Meeting. The "14th Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting" will be held on March 4 to 6 in Washington D.C. in partnership with Hydrogen Expo USA: Among the speakers is U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. More information on: www.hydrogenexpo.com
The Linde Group, Wiesbaden, European market leader for industrial and medical gases, is bundling its gas activities in the United States. According to a corporate press release, the group's US gas business will be controlled from Cleveland, Ohio. This means that Linde is bringing the three existing gas companies AGA Gas, Inc. in Cleveland, Holox in Atlanta, Georgia, and Linde Gas in La Porte, Texas, together under one roof. At the same time, the former medical gas businesses will be brought together under single management. In 2001, the group achieved sales in gases of around 850 million Euros in the USA with 2,500 employees. "The streamlining means we can be even more effective in making our extensive know-how in the field of gas applications available to our customers in industry and in the medical sector," says Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive Board at Linde AG and responsible for the Gas and Engineering Business Segment. "In the past five years from 1997 to 2001 we have increased sales in gases in the USA more than fivefold. We plan to further strengthen our market position in the USA." In 2001, the group achieved sales of around 4.8 billion euros in the Gas and Engineering Business Segment and has over 21,000 employees in this sector. Linde will be exhibiting at Hydrogen Expo USA and will have speaker at the conference.
Hydrogenics Corporation from Mississauga, Ontario, announced that its test system has been selected by ZSW (Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research) based in Ulm, Germany. This initial order is for the delivery of a 100 kW "FCATS Series HX" fuel cell advanced test station with added custom features. ZSW, with extensive experience as an independent test center for batteries, has recently expanded into fuel cell testing, and has build up an FC Test and Evaluation Center. The 100 kW FCATS that is to be delivered for this contract significantly increases the power range that the testing center will be capable of servicing. ZSW is receiving government assistance from Germany's Department of Economic Affairs for the purchase. "We are excited to have secured a new key client in Germany. This is a progressive region that is setting the pace for all of Europe in advancing fuel cell technology," said Pierre Rivard, President and CEO of Hydrogenics. The local presence of Hydrogenics GmbH, Hydrogenics' wholly-owned subsidiary based in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, played an important role in securing the contract. The ZSW testing center is now equipped with 12 test stations for PEM single cells and stacks from 0.2 to 85kW. In addition to performance and lifecycle tests, in-situ analysis are possible, with the center being supplied by its own gas infrastructure.
Stuart
Energy Systems released news that it has been selected by Fortum, a leading
Nordic energy company, to supply a hydrogen fueling station to the city of
Stockholm, Sweden under the CUTE (Clean Urban Transportation Europe) project.
The electrolysis-based H2 fueling station will produce, store and dispense pure,
clean hydrogen fuel on-site. Fueling a bus with hydrogen is said to be as easy
as filling up with gasoline. The station will employ the Canadian manufacturer's
patented "intelligent" fueling system that governs the exchange of
information between components of the system and the user. The station will be
delivered and installed in late 2003 and will generate approx. 120 kg of clean
H2 fuel per day. Each bus in the project will require about 40 kg of hydrogen
per day. Four of the nine hydrogen stations in CUTE will supply H2 produced
through water electrolysis. "With the signing of this CUTE contract and the
closing of the Vandenborre Technologies acquisition, Stuart Energy will be
directly involved in three of the four electrolysis-based CUTE projects,"
said Jon Slangerup, the company's President and CEO. "Our involvement in
the CUTE projects indicates the strength of the combined Stuart
Energy-Vandenborre company in the European market, in addition to our activities
in North America and Asia-Pacific." To date, Stuart has installed hydrogen
fueling stations at several customer's sites, including Ford, Toyota U.S.A, the
California Fuel Cell Partnership, and SunLine Transit California.
Fuel
Cell Safety Systems (FCSS), a division of Grandville, Michigan-based Family
Safety Products Inc. (FPSI) recently announced introduction of the world's first
line of combustible gas leak detection systems specifically designed for fuel
cells. According to the release, FCSS has been collaborating with several
leading FC manufacturers for the past three years to develop a reliable, low
cost leak detection method for elevated levels of combustible gases such as
hydrogen, methane and propane. The promises of a burgeoning fuel cell industry
that bears unlimited potentials is what attracted FPSI to "invest
significant R&D dollars" into redesigning their current hazardous gas
alarms for residential applications for the more difficult atmosphere within the
FC cabinet. Says FCSS President Dan Gauthier: "We started reading about the
momentum being developed by the fuel cell industry and determined that we could
leverage our background in software, gas sensing technology and manufacturing
capabilities to be a key vendor in the development of the first commercially
available fuel cells." The company is said to have supplied over 1,000 FCs
worldwide in the commercial and residential markets and looks forward to
penetrating a completely new industry with its products. FCSS' hydrogen, methane
and propane detectors will be on display at Hydrogen Expo USA, held in
conjunction with the 14th Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting in Washington, DC in
March.
Hydrogen
in the soaps
US actor Dennis Weaver is to be a guest start on "Touched By An Angel", playing the role of a man who perfects a method to create hydrogen economically. The television series is about three "heavenly social workers" helping people in need on earth. In the episode titled "The Good Earth", Weaver's breakthrough promises to revolutionze the world of energy and to end the use of fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere. The actor, who is best known for his role in the 1970s movie "Duell", has been active in promoting the introduction of clean fuels on American roads for some time. In real life, Weaver will be leading the "Drive to Survive 2003" caravan of non-gasoline fueled automobiles from Los Angeles to Washington DC in May this year. At the end of the journey, Weaver hopes to have gathered 100,000 signatures for his cause to present to Congress. Celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Robert Kennedy and former Dallas bad guy and oil baron J.R. Ewing aka Larry Hagmann support the campaign.
The Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Energies (ISE), VDI/VDE-IT and Freesen & Partner, all based in Germany, are currently working on a study of the European market for portable fuel cells. FCs in the range of 1W to 5kW are being examined. In addition to energy converters for portable applications such as notebooks and mobile environmental measurement technology, APUs (auxiliary power units) for example for onboard vehicle electronics will be included. The study aims at providing an updated overview of the technologies, suppliers, projects and funding programs in this field, with a focus on Europe. Data is being collected through extensive interviews. The partners will introduce the study at Hydrogen Expo in Hamburg in October this year. More information: info@h2report.com
After the US President's announcement about billion dollar funding for H2 technologies, Hydrogen Expo USA from March 4 to 6 in Washington DC comes to the right place at the right time. Partner and sponsor of the event National Hydrogen Association (NHA) sees a dramatically growing interest in the technology. Says NHA Vice President Karen Miller: "What a great time to be involved with hydrogen energy! With the FreedomFuel Initiative announcement in the President's State of the Union Address, the NHA has received dozens of calls from legislators and the Administration offering to work with us on creating a hydrogen energy future!" Meetings with these leaders and members of the NHA Board will take place in conjunction with Hydrogen Expo and the NHA's Annual Meeting. The organizer of the exhibition, Freesen & Partner GmbH, also expects an increased interest in the showcased developments from the business sector, the media and endusers. To book one of the last remaining booths at the exhibition call +49-211-687858-11 or send an email to: info@hydrogenexpo.com
