Content:

The heat is on for the mass market: Whistler acquires Anuvu's fuel cell division

Tamed energy: Powerball reaches key milestones in sodium production

Indepth market knowledge: New research service

Great Britain: Largest solar hydrogen plant in Cambridge

Awards: Fuel cells "development of the year"

New thinking: Hydrogen versus fossil fuels

The alkaline approach: Fuel cell powered golf cart

Test flight: Fuel cell goes up into the air

This time with Prof. Dr. Carl-Jochen Winter, Vice President Europe, International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE)

New topics: Hydrogen Expo expands its reach

Last call: Early Bird Rate until 31.12.2001

Last but not least

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Markt-News:

The heat is on for the mass market: Whistler acquires Anuvu's fuel cell division

Whistler, Inc., Sacramento/California, announced the signing of an agreement to acquire the fuel cell division of Anuvu Inc., also based in Sacramento. Whistler buys 100% of the shares of the Anuvu FC division in exchange for shares in Whistler and a cash payment. The acquisition includes the rights to the "Carbon-X" fuel cell developed by Anuvu. According to Whistler, this PEM FC can be manufactured using industry standard technologies without the need to build custom manufacturing lines. The acquisition is part of Whistler's strategy to get an advantage over competitors also looking at the mass market. Rex Hodge, former CEO/President of Anuvu and an acknowledged expert with nearly 15 years of engineering experience in the FC sector, will join the management team of the acquired fuel cell division. Because currently no fuel cell companies were delivering to the commercial market, there was a resulting pent-up demand for units operating in the 1-25kW range, says Whistler. The next step therefore was to construct a pilot manufacturing line for FC stack designs, which meet the requirements of OEMs and support integration into end products. Afterwards large-scale test programs will be initiated to produce beta-fuel cells. The beta-units are meant to secure long-term commercial sales contracts for Whistler. They company also announced that it has been approved for trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Tamed energy: Powerball reaches key milestones in sodium production

According to a Powerball International Inc. (West Valley City/ Utah) press release the company reached two key milestones for its pilot sodium hydride production plant. Sodium hydride is the basis of the "Powerball fuel pellets", a medium for compact hydrogen storage. Each gallon of these pellets is said to produce hundreds of gallons of hydrogen upon contact with water in an exothermic reaction requiring no additional input of heat energy. This would make it possible to store hydrogen safely as a solid material at room temperature and atmospheric pressure to be used on an as-needed basis. To produce sodium hydride Powerball operates a pilot plant which just performed successfully in a two-week test phase with daily NaH production. The second milestone was that a much higher quality of elemental sodium in a liquid state could be produced. Powerball's shares are being traded on the Nasdaq.

New! Indepth market knowledge: New research service

Are you looking for detailed information about the German hydrogen and fuel cell market? H2 Report provides you with indepth analysis about suppliers, projects and trends. For options and prices contact info@h2report.com or call +49-211-687858-0.

Sven Geitmann reports:

Great Britain: Largest solar hydrogen plant in Cambridge

A decision whether Great Britain's ambitious plans will became reality is expected before the end of this year. Together with engineers Whitby Bird & Partners and the community of Gotland, the University of Cambridge is working on a project to install the world's largest solar hydrogen plant. Now, the European Commission's awaited decision whether it is going to support this project with 2 million pounds sterling is what the makes the difference. Part of the undertaking involves spreading photovoltaic modules over the Madingley Road colonnades, converting sunlight directly into electric power. The electricity will then be used to separate oxygen and hydrogen, the latter being meant to run a city bus. Says project manager Colin Saunders: "The scheme is an operational demonstration of areas of technology that are under research within the University. These include photovoltaic cells, gas storage, fuel cells and the technology to control the emerging systems. It will raise global interest." A similar project will be initiated on Swedish island Gotland's world culture capital Visby. There, it is planned to install photovoltaic cells on the roofs of several administration buildings. The aim is to have Gotland's whole energy supply system restructured in favor of regenerative energies by the year 2025.

Awards: Fuel cells "development of the year"

Time Magazine awarded two fuel cell systems to be "development of the year". They refer to an FC bycicle and an FC kickboard. Italian manufacturer Aprilia S.p.A., who together with NovArs GmbH from Buechlberg/Germany introduced the first prototype at the beginning of the year (ref. to H2 Report 03/01), now received this special award. Gaseous fuel is stored in 2l metal canisters at 300bar. The canisters are integrated into the bycicle's frame. The NovArs fuel cell enables maximum speed of 30km/h, the whole energy supply system weighs 3kg (energy content 860W/kg) and has a reach of about 70km. With regards to energy density it therefore supercedes conventional lead accumulators by factor 7 and is three times as efficient as metal hydride batteries. According to Aprilia this bicycle can be bought as early as 2003 at 2.300 Euros. NovArs is further developing a portable 100W system with an integrated hydrogen source based on chemical hydrides (NaBH4), and a couple of weeks ago introduced a fuel cell scooter together with partner company Manhattan Scientifics, Inc. Prototype fuel cell systems were already available, said head of NovArs Koschany (a 100W system at Euros 5.000). The second award went to a kickboard constructed by two engineers from San Francisco/California. Like the bycicle it is powered by a fuel cell and is said to be on the shelves from 2003 at 500 to 800 Euros.

New thinking: Hydrogen versus fossil fuels

Due to the tense global political situation there seems to be a gradual reorientation in energy policy leaning more toward alternative energies and relying less on fossil fuels. According to Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy David Garman, the US governement is intent on putting more money into research in this field from next year on. "We will be reshuffling our technology portfolio to be more aggressive, reorienting it to deliver a hydrogen fuel cell future." This means the government will take steps to drive forward the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen and to reduce the cost for fuel cells. This would increase independence from oil exporting countries. At the moment some 60% of US consumption of fossil fuels is covered by imports, of which 25% are from the Middle East. Before a reorientation can bring more self-sufficiency, however, oil remains to be a major source of energy. Therefore, for the time being President Bush ordered domestic reserves to increase capacity from currently 545 million to 700 million barrel. This capacity is sufficient to satisfy the total oil demand of the United States for a month.

The alkaline approach: Fuel cell powered golf cart

The world's first golf cart with AFC powertrain was introduced in November in Mississauga, Ontario at Astris Energy Inc.'s annual general meeting. The vehicle's alkaline fuel cells which are fueled with gaseous hydrogen were developed at European subsidiary Astris s.r.o. in Benesov/Czech Republic. In addition to the golf cart the Canadian corporation was able to present a portable 1kW system as well as a 4kW system for residential power and warm water supply. President Jiri K. Nor said the AFC was superior to the PEM fuel cell and referred to three fully tested systems by his company. In particular with regards to an announced increase in gaseous hydrogen storage pressure to 700 bar he sees good future potential for commericalization of these systems. There are currently only few manufacturers of AFC technology, which is viewed with scepticism within the industry.

Test flight: Fuel cell goes up into the air

Fuel cell powered cars, mobile phones and even vacuum cleaners are not so new anymore. Now US inventor James P. Dunn is planning to fly with a fuel cell plane. Dunn's plane, an all carbon French DynAero Lafayette III is currently being converted from a combustion engine to electric propulsion in three stages. The first flights, which are planned for next year, will be powered by lithium ion batteries, to be succeeded by a combination of lithium ion batteries and a fuel cell. The final step is to have the plane rely exclusively on a fuel cell with a range of over 800km. Although Dunn has no intentions to take the aircraft into commercial production, he still expresses hopes that his work will contribute to a wider use of fuel cells.

Interview of the Month:

This time with Prof. Dr. Carl-Jochen Winter, Vice President Europe, International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE)

H2 Report: A lot is happing on the hydrogen market: BMW announced series production of their H2 combustion vehicles, DaimlerChrylser will be delivering fuel cell buses for public transport to 10 European cities, and more and more companies from the finance sector are offering funds with H2 and FC companies. Is this the breakthrough finally?

Prof. Winter: Energy needs time. Many decades, if not half-centuries typically apply to the introduction of new energies. Remember that the first nuclear fission by Otto Hahn in Berlin took place 1938, and now we are 63 years older and have achieved 7% primary energy equivalence. Another example: the first mention of a gas turbine in literature dates back 150 years. Today plants combing gas and steam perform at efficiency ratios of amost 60%, but this took mankind 150 years. God beware that it takes as long for hydrogen. Due to climate-ecological reasons we need it much sooner. There will be no momentary breakthrough, but it will consist of many small singular breakthroughs. This, for example, takes the form that the automotive industry took the lead in hydrogen and fuel cell development, or that the mineral oil companies started to establish hydrogen divisions or even subsidiaries within their corporate structure.

H2 Report: What are currently still the biggest blockers from your point of view?

Prof. Winter: Let us look at a positive development first, the VES initiative of the German automotive and energy industry. VES stands for "Verkehrswirtschaftliche Energiestrategie" (industrial energy strategy), that is the joint effort to look for an environmentally benign fuel. There are many possibilities, which have been reduced to three: natural gas, methanol, hydrogen. It looks like hydrogen is going to be the final solution. The biggest blocker is that we need to shape public awareness accordingly. We live in parlamentry democracies, which means that there is voting, and people need to know what to vote for. We need to create awareness for the fact that we cannot go on with providing mobility like we used to. Just imagine 1.3 billion Chinese would become mobile like we have been at it for the last 100 years. This would result in a climatic and ecological desaster. Therefore, it is very important that they start with clean fuel in the early stages, and we need to be their example. And of course, when talking about shaping public awareness I do in no way exclude political institutions.

H2 Report: Biomass and thermal waste treatment have been much discussed issues lately. Do they bear potential for H2 production?

Prof. Winter: Absolutely. These efforts have two tasks to fulfill, one being to treat waste in an environmentally conscious way, the second to produce hydrogen. However, we do not want to think about biomass plants which are specifically built to produce hydrogen. What we mean is recovering energy from organic and residental waste. This is a limited but important part of a future clean fuel market.

H2 Report: What was the most important development or the most important incident in hydrogen technology for you in 2001?

Prof. Winter: This brings us back to the first question. There is no monolithic breakthrough but a succession of breakthroughs. Hydrogen Expo, for example, as the first trade show for this area is an important step toward creating the awareness I spoke of. I am convinced that the gradient of introducing clean hydrogen into energy and mobility markets is making good progress. The gradient is positiv. Its tendency could be steeper but it is positive. Impatient people have to learn that energy takes time. Therefore we need to implement change now: It's Hy(drogen)Time! Usually, mankind is way too late with innovations.

Event News:

New topics: Hydrogen Expo expands its reach

After the great success of Hydrogen Expo's premiere in October 2001 the organizer plans to expand the range of topics. New featured areas are: H2 production from biomass and thermal waste treatment, gasification technology, H2 combustion, intermediary fuels, fuel cell alternatives, operational data collection softare, process simulation software, project financing. Also, industrial hydrogen applications, e.g. in processing, will receive increased attention. In order to incorporate the above topics a further exhibition hall will be added. For more information call +49-211-687858-0.

Last call: Early Bird Rate until 31.12.2001

Companies and institutions who in 2002 want to use Hydrogen Expo, the leading international forum, to successfully present their developments, can save money by applying before the end of the year. The Early Bird Rate for exhibitors who want to secure their preferred location in time expires on December 31, 2001. For your application form contact info@h2expo.com or tel. +49-211-687858-11.

Last but not least

We wish you a peaceful Christmas break and a successful new year. Speaking of new: from mid of December our new website for 2002 will be online. Practical and detailed information about the exhibition again at www.h2expo.com