US Secretary of Energy speaks at opening of 14th Annual Hydrogen Conference in Washington DC

Six FC vehicles and one H2 filling station for the U.S. capital

GM is first automaker approved to drive liquid H2 vehicle in Japan

Linde builds world's first 700 bar hydrogen filling station in Germany

HEW starts operation of first home fuel cell appliance in Northern Germany

Vancouver employs H2 technologies to bid for 2010 Olympics

H2 match making meeting in Berlin

European Portable Fuel Cell Study: Questionnaire now online

First Hydrogen Expo USA surpasses all expectations

H2Expo Advisory Board meets to discuss featured topics and special events

US Secretary of Energy speaks at opening of 14th Annual Hydrogen Conference in Washington DC

In his key note speech on March 5 at the 14th Annual Conference organized by the National Hydrogen Association, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham underlined the role of the assocation in shaping the FreedomCAR and FreedomFUEL programs: "Our responsibility was to come up with a new energy approach, one that recognizes new solutions for a new era. Fortunately, we met with the leadership of the National Hydrogen Association to map some of the long-term answers. Those discussions were very enlightening and bore real fruit. In fact, the President's FreedomCAR program and the recently announced Hydrogen Fuel Initiative can be traced in large part back to those meetings." Abraham admitted that he himself had been sceptical at first but was convinced that the hurdles to the hydrogen economy could be overcome "in our lifetimes", if the federal government took the necessary steps to smooth the economic transition. The 1.7 billion USD to support hydrogen R&D, which George W. Bush announced, were to be spent mainly in four areas: lowering the cost of fuel cells, lowering the cost of hydrogen, developing new methods of storage, and solving the infrastructure challenge. For the mass production of fuel cells Abraham indicated a necessary cut in cost by a factor of ten. For hydrogen fuel the goal was to bring down the cost of the H2 equivalent of an untaxed gallon of gas to 1.50 USD. He also emphasized the importance of diverse domestic energy sources to produce the fuel in order to achieve energy independence and stable supply. Another initiative related to this was the "FutureGen" program, putting an additional 1 billion USD into the design and operation of an emission-free coal-fired power plant which produces both electricity and hydrogen while sequestering the CO2. Speaking of the demands to an H2 infrastructure the Secretary pointed out: "Drivers must be able to go virtually anywhere in America with the assurance they will be able to get home in the same vehicle." Abraham went on to say that the President's announcement was both welcomed and criticized, but this did not change the strategy behind these programs. "Hearing these [critics]", said the Secretary. "I am reminded of Winston Churchill who said, 'I do not resent all criticism, even when, for the sake of emphasis, it for a time parts company with reality'." Abraham closed his speech addressing the audience: "You are the energy experts. You convinced me. You convinced the President. Now we must convince the public." The NHA Annual Conference was held in partnership with Hydrogen Expo USA from March 4 to 6, 2003 in Washington DC.

Six FC vehicles and one H2 filling station for the U.S. capital

Also during the National Hydrogen Assocation's conference held in conjunction with Hydrogen Expo USA on March 4 to 6 in Washington DC, Shell Hydrogen and General Motors announced their cooperation to help make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a commercially viable reality. The centerpiece of the partnership will be a real-life demonstration in the capital of the United States. The vehicles and infrastructure will be tested under real-life conditions and will be made accessible for the administration. "We want to demonstrate the practical and everyday use of hydrogen fuel", said Don Huberts, CEO of Shell Hydrogen. "Shell's work with GM will show that filling up the car with hydrogen is as simple and safe as filling up with gasoline." Larry Burns, GM's Vice President R&D, added: "GM and Shell will provide an entire system – from the generation and distribution of hydrogen to a retail station, and the storage of hydrogen on a vehicle to the actual vehicle itself. It is an important learning opportunity, with real vehicles driving in real-world settings," Burn said. "This is very important for the future of our nation. Many of our policy leaders have not had a chance to drive fuel cell vehicles and this gives them that opportunity." According to a joint press release, the initiative by the car manufacturer and the mineral oil company aims at three goals: increasing awareness and understanding for the technology on the part of policymakers and the general public, sharing knowledge between the partners both from the vehicle and the fueling infrastructure sides, and learning from the trial under real-life, real-time conditions. Shell and GM have been working together on other projects already, including the California Fuel Cell Partnership.

GM is first automaker approved to drive liquid H2 vehicle in Japan

According to a press release by the automaker, the Japanese Government granted General Motors (GM) the first-ever approval to drive a liquid hydrogen-fueled vehicle on public roads in Japan. The HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicle will be the first to drive on the streets of Japan using liquid hydrogen as its fuel and is said to have a driving range of 400 kilometers (250 mile). Approval was granted by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) and the High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan (KHK). "Japan is one of the key countries at the forefront of developing fuel cell technology and a hydrogen economy," said Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development. "We're happy that the Japanese government, like GM, is looking at several methods for storing hydrogen. It's important to seriously study all of the viable storage options available." GM currently has both liquid and compressed hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in its testing fleet and is exploring several options in hydrogen storage, including liquid, compressed and various hydrides. Beginning in June, FedEx will operate the liquid H2 fueled HydroGen3 several days a week on its regular delivery routes in Tokyo. The car manufacturer expects to gather valuable experience from this. The vehicle has a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph) and stores up to 4.6 kilograms of liquid hydrogen at -253 C onboard. It is said to boast several advancements in packaging and technology which will move GM closer to developing a production-ready fuel cell vehicle.

Linde builds world's first 700 bar hydrogen filling station in Germany

Linde AG has created the world's first hydrogen filling station using 700 bar technology for the Adam Opel AG. This was released by the Wiesbaden-based company in March. The project represented an important milestone on the road to the H2 powered car economy. In comparison to the usual 350 bar (5,000 PSI) systems, the higher storage density of the 700 bar technology extended the range of a fuel cell vehicle by 60 to 70%. This advance gave the FCV a range of over 400 km (250 miles), which Linde says is one of the most important pre-requisites for widespread use of cars powered by compressed H2. The filling station located on the Opel facilities is supplied from a 10,000 litre liquid hydrogen tank with a downstream vaporiser. The tank is said to have a delivery rate of 40 m3/min and to make it possible that the vehicles is filled in no more than three and a half minutes. A new two-stage Linde compression process allows for a 300 bar cylinder pack to be used as an intermediate high-pressure buffer. All requirements and recommendations for full-scale filling stations distributing gaseous fuels were met, according to the release. The procedure for filling the car's tank met the highest possible safety standards, both for the compressor and at the point of delivery and was even better protected against fuel leakage or faulty operation than a conventional filling station. The compressor equipment, electrical installations and the high pressure buffer are housed in a 20 feet steel container along with a service unit which was designed to empty vehicle tanks safely and then to flush them with nitrogen. The container could be disconnected from the gas supply and moved to another location. Thus, the new filling station technology can be used on alternative sites.

HEW starts operation of first home fuel cell appliance in Northern Germany

On March 24 Hamburg utilities company HEW introduced its first fuel cell for heat and power supply in a private household to the public. The co-generation systems includes a 4.6kW PEM fuel cell designed by Vaillant and its US partner Plug Power. The so-called fuel cell utilization ratio according to HEW is 80% and much higher than in earlier models. This means that 80% of the natural gas fed into the FC are converted into heat and power. Until 2005 a total of 50 of these small power plants are planned to go into operation at the utilities company's customers' sites, with all systems ranging around 5kW. The fuel cells will be integrated into the existing supply chain and will be operated within a "virtual power plant" in order to achieve optimum load. The first 15 of these units will be beta-units, after that the FC home appliances will have the same size and features as the ones that go into series production. An installation manual which enables regular heating engineers to set up and maintain the system is already available.

Vancouver employs H2 technologies to bid for 2010 Olympics

With an impressive demonstration of clean energy technologies Vancouver wants to win the International Olympic Committee's vote for the 2010 winter games. During the delegation's stay the Science World Dome in the Canadian city will be lighted up with a fuel cell power module developed by manufacturer Hydrogenics. Says Ken Baker, Executive Director of Environment and Sustainability for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation: "This fuel cell and hydrogen power demonstration at the Science World geodesic dome is helping to communicate the Vancouver 2010 Bid team's sustainability message." The Hydrogenics 20kW HyPM-LP2 fuel cell power module produces electricity to power the lights on the Dome which is comprised of 257 11-watt energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and 150 strobe lights. The H2 to power the fuel cell is being provided by local power supplier BC Hydro. Adds Pierre Rivard, President and CEO of Hydrogenics: "The entire team at Hydrogenics is very excited to be giving the Vancouver community a glimpse of the possibilities that fuel cells are creating, especially because it ties in so well with the Vancouver Bid team's message of environmental responsibility and sustainability. Powering lights is just one of many applications for fuel cells that could be highlighted at the 2010 Olympics to illustrate Canada's leadership in this emerging energy technology." In addition to the IOC delegation the public was invited to experience this demonstration. Along the same lines, BC Hydro created a program to raise awareness for clean energy technologies with its "Power Smart" initiative. Power Smart was designed to assists customers in conserving electricity, thereby saving them money and reducing further impacts on the environment. According to the utilities company, over the next 10 years Power Smart is expected to save 3500 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity or enough energy to power 350,000 homes each year. To date, Power Smart is said to have saved customers in British Columbia over one billion Canadian dollars.

H2 match making meeting in Berlin

An international "brokerage event" for hydrogen and fuel cells companies will be organized by the Innovation Relay Center (IRC) on May 9 in Berlin, Germany. The program includes pre-arranged meetings for parties interested in exchanging information and in cooperating in this burgeoning market. Based on a short questionnaire company profiles will be created to achieve a match-making between the participants. The companies will receive a list of the participants prior to the meeting to select the parties they want to talk to. Further, IRC assists participants with their selection based on an evaluation of the profiles. The participation fee for the the brokerage event is 150 Euros. This also includes a tour to the Berlin hydrogen filling station operated by Berlin Transport Agency BVG, TotalFinaElf and Linde. In Europe, there are 60 Innovation Relay Centers with a network of some 250 partners. The IRCs' goal is to foster cooperation and technology transfer between the European countries. The H2 match making meeting will again take place at H2Expo from October 9 to 11, 2003 in Hamburg, Germany. More information and application forms: sales@h2expo.de

Portable Fuel Cell Study: Questionnaire now online

Extensive interviews provide the data for the European Portable Fuel Cell Study conducted by the Fraunhofer ISE, VDI/VDE-IT and Freesen & Partner. Organizations interested in contributing to the uptodate overview of technologies, applications and suppliers can now download the questionnaire on www.freesen.de/h2report/study.htm in pdf format. The interviewed parties will be listed in the appendix, their organizations will be included in the suppliers directory with full contact details. The order form for the study can also be downloaded from the website.

First Hydrogen Expo USA surpasses all expectations

On March 6, the first Hydrogen Expo USA closed its doors in Washington, DC. Nearly 800 visitors came to see the latest developments in energy technology at the exhibition and the simultaneously held National Hydrogen Assocation's Annual Conference. The exhibit hall in the Capital Hilton was sold out with 23 booths, in addition to this vehicles with hydrogen internal combustion and fuel cell powertrain could be seen in and outside of the hotel. More than a fourth of the exhibitors came from Europe. The successful partnership with the National Hydrogen Association's Annual Conference will be continued for the next event. In 2004, Hydrogen Expo USA will be held from April 26 to 29 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. For more information call Ines Freesen at: +49-211-687858-11.

H2Expo Advisory Board meets to discuss featured topics and special events

The Advisory Board of the H2Expo, which will again be held in Hamburg/Germany on October 9 to 11 this year, met on March 17 to discuss the concept and new attractions for Europe's largest hydrogen and fuel cells trade show. The CUTE project, which starts operation in Hamburg with three busses this summer, will be one of the event's highlights. Exhibitor Hochbahn showcases one of the H2 fueled FC busses on the fairgrounds and plans to shuttle attendees to its new hydrogen filling station. The car manufacturers exhibiting at H2Expo will be able to refuel their vehicles right onsite with a mobile unit. The local players, together with the Hamburg Hydrogen Assocation, are planning to organize a lecture program focused on small fuel cell applications which will be linked to the micro fuel cells theme park in the exhibit hall coordinated by the VDI/VDE-IT. Hamburg utilities company HEW offers a tour of the recently opened stationary fuel cell project in Bramfeld. Further, H2Expo's youth program will be expanded. In addition to the youth conference, also supported by HEW, the new "H2 for Kids" program is designed to familiarize the very youngest with the technology. One of the highlights in the seminar program will be the panel discussions, this time with international participation on topics such as where Germany stands with its hydrogen activities in international comparison. Another topic will be collaboration between the state initiatives and the federal government to support H2 and FC projects. For more information go to www.h2expo.com or call +49-211-6878580.