The Eighth Grove Fuel Cell Symposium: Building Fuel Cell Industries, will be held in London on September 24-26, 2003. The conference and exhibition will provide an up-to-date review of developments in all types of fuel cells worldwide, with progress in implementing them in stationary and mobile applications, and the infrastructure that is emerging.

The Grove Symposium, the eighth in the series, will bring together a multitude of interested organizations, which now have a direct interest in the success of this new power generator. It will provide a framework for discussion of new developments in the field as well as progress in demonstrating existing designs. A diverse range of manufacturers, electrical and engineering companies, energy suppliers and distributors, and financiers are becoming involved in the design, manufacture and installation of fuel cell power plants, and are expected to attend.

HydrogenSource LLC said tests of its gasoline-to- hydrogen fuel processor show the technology is viable for powering fuel cell vehicles. Running on California RFG that had been further desulfurized to about 10 ppm, the company's fuel processor generated enough hydrogen to operate a 50 kilowatts (kW) Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell.

Gore Fuel Cell Technologies announces the commercial availability of GORE(TM) PRIMEA(R)
Series 57 MEA for automotive PEM fuel cells.  Details about the new product will be made public this week during technical presentations at both SAE TOPTEC in Detroit, MI, USA, and at the Hannover Fair Hydrogen & Fuel Cells exhibit, hall 13 stand G58/2, in Hannover, Germany.

GORE(TM) PRIMEA(R) Series 57 MEA is designed to deliver high power density and exceptional durability under very demanding conditions.  With this MEA, automotive fuel cell manufacturers can implement more cost-effective designsby simplifying balance of plant requirements, including reduced humidification and cooling system needs.

KIEL, Germany, April 7 (Reuters) - It can cruise under water for weeks without surfacing, is virtually impossible for enemies to detect and is about to make the German Navy the most advanced non-nuclear submarine fleet in the world.

The first fuel cell-powered submarine began its maiden voyage on Monday after decades of development, weaving silently between passenger ferries and freight ships in the northern port of Kiel before heading out into the Baltic Sea.

QUANTUM Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: QTWW - News), announced today it delivered a proprietary hydrogen refueling system to AeroVironment. This refueling system will be used to refuel QUANTUM's hydrogen storage tanks on the Helios unmanned flying wing, designed by AeroVironment for NASA. This is the third hydrogen refueling system delivered by QUANTUM.

IdaTech unveiled its FCS(TM) NG natural gas fuel cell system at Hannover Fair 2003. The combined heat and power system further demonstrates IdaTech's multi-fuel reforming and system integration capabilities.

FuelCell Energy, Inc., (Nasdaq: FCEL - News) has signed an agreement with Grand Valley State University to install and service a DFC300A fuel cell power plant for the Energy Institute's 26,000 square foot research center in Muskegon, Mich. Funding for the entire project, including the building and the fuel cells, is being provided for by a $3 million alternative energy grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission and bonding from the City of Muskegon.

BOC (NYSE: BOX), a producer and supplier of hydrogen, will participate in the Compressed Hydrogen Infrastructure Program (CH2IP), a hydrogen fuelling demonstration in Surrey, British Columbia.

The CH2IP program was created and is led by Powertech Labs and BC Hydro. It brings together companies and organisations that work with hydrogen to advance the development of the infrastructure necessary to support the use of hydrogen fuel in vehicles.

Other participants include major oil companies, energy providers and equipment suppliers. The program is also benefiting from financial assistance from the governments of British Columbia and Canada under the Western Economic Partnership Agreement, to promote hydrogen and fuel cells in the province of British Columbia.

For the first time anywhere in the world, a public gas station has been renovated to manufacture and dispense hydrogen fuel alongside gas and diesel.

The facility, in Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik, plans opening ceremonies on April 24 from 10-12 noon. The filling station is located at Vesturlandsvegur, about four miles from the center of the city. Iceland is the first country to pledge the future of its society to this newly feasible source of energy.

Icelandic New Energy Ltd.'s ECTOS project will be launched at an existing Shell retail station in Reykjavik, using Norsk Hydro electrolysis technology. Hydrogen for the project will be produced by electrolyzing water, using electricity generated from renewable energy. The goal of the company is to substitute fossil fuels with hydrogen (based fuels) and create the first hydrogen economy in the world.

First to fill up will be a concept car from Mercedes brought to Iceland for this event. By late August, three hydrogen-powered city buses manufactured by DaimlerChrysler will also be fueled by compressed hydrogen. Initially the vehicles will be tested for two years in the streets of Reykjavik. Icelandic New Energy (INE) Limited, a holding company of Icelandic business interests, is the principal in a partnership with DaimlerChrysler, Norsk Hydro (an energy company), and Shell Hydrogen. (Ed. note: filling station photos available upon request via blumassoc@aol.com)

The opening of the hydrogen filling station coincides with a Reykjavik conference on Apr. 24-25 titled, "Making Hydrogen Available to the Public." (For registration information, see www.newenergy.is). At the conference, speakers from Icelandic New Energy, Norsk Hydro Daimler Chrysler and Shell, as well as specialists in renewable energy and fuels and new business opportunities in the hydrogen energy field, will discuss how this new energy source will be made available to the public in the near future.

Micro fuel cell markets will see their first commercial products in 2004, according to a recent study by research firm Allied Business Intelligence (ABI).

Micro fuel cells (MFCs) for consumer electronics will soon be observed in products ranging from wireless handsets to notebook computers to video cameras/camcorders. ABI's study, "Micro Fuel Cell End User Markets," predicts that MFC unit shipments will reach as many as 200 million worldwide by 2011.

The grand prize of the "Nikkei BP Technology Awards" for 2003 under the auspices of Nikkei Business Publications Inc went to a fuel cell vehicle by Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, Ltd.

Vaillant, the German heating system manufacturer, is demonstrating a virtual power plant at the Hannover Fair “Hydrogen & Fuel Cells” Group Exhibit. A couple of weeks ago, the company successfully joined single heating systems across Europe together to act as one virtual network power plant. During the fair, Vaillant will demonstrate this new technology. 

Fuel cells are not just for the auto industry. 

Two new microfluidic fuel cells developed at Brown University may help make long-running medical implants a reality. 

The new fuel cells offer manufacturers a chance to provide long-term power for medical devices such as implants that monitor glucose levels in diabetics. 

Nuvera Fuel Cells, Inc., a leading global designer and developer of fuel cell and fuel processing technology today announced it has entered into an agreement with TotalFinaElf, one of the world's leading oil companies, to study the effects of gasoline on fuel processors and fuel cell stacks designed for the automotive industry.

Global Thermoelectirc said separately Wednesday that the deal values the company at $2.51, or a 50% premium to Global's close Tuesday.

Global will nominate two directors to Quantum's board.

Quantum said Global common shareholders will be left with 52% to 57% of the outstanding pro forma Quantum common shares once the deal is completed. Additional details weren't immediately available.

General Motors Corp. holds a 19.9% stake in Quantum.

Quantum expects the deal will boost revenue and liquidity and reduce cash burn.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - News) and BMW AG (XETRA:BMWG.DE - News) have agreed to work jointly on developing refueling devices for liquid hydrogen vehicles, which could replace gasoline or diesel-burning cars and trucks in the future

Global Thermoelectric Inc. ("Global" or the"Company"), announced today that it has received a Letter of Intent from the Gas Authority of India Ltd. ("GAIL") for a US$3.6 million order of thermoelectric power systems for GAIL's Vizag-Secunderabad LPG Pipeline Project. Within the scope of the project, Global will be responsible for the supply, installation, and commissioning of turnkey thermoelectric generator systems at 26 sites along the pipeline. In addition the Company will supply fuel conditioning systems, system control panels, DC-DC converters and civil and mechanical works at pipeline sites. The contract award follows Global's recently completed successful collaboration with GAIL on a US$12.9 million contract for the supply of turnkey power systems to the 1200 km Jamnagar-Loni Pipeline, the world's longest LPG pipeline.

Proton Energy Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRTN - News), a leading hydrogen generator and regenerative fuel cell company, announced today that it resumed production and shipments of its HOGEN 40 hydrogen generators and is accepting new orders for units to be delivered in the third quarter 2003.
 

TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Nippon Oil Corp. (J.NPO or 5001) said Thursday it has opened a hydrogen service station in Yokohama, near Tokyo, for fuel cell cars. It is Japan's first hydrogen service station providing naphtha as fuel.

 The service station is part of a government-backed research project on fuel cell cars in Japan.

 With a tank capacity of 3 kiloliters, the station can supply hydrogen for five passenger cars or one bus powered by fuel cells.

 Fuel cells produce electricity without generating pollutants through an electrochemical reaction using oxygen and hydrogen.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Supercharging fuel cells by premixing the fuel with oxygen holds out the promise of superslim fuel cells that can be manufactured on a printing press.

 Inventor Generics Group Ltd. (Cambridge, England) believes the new design, which eliminates the need for bulky metal separation plates, will shrink the cell size while increasing power density tenfold.

Independent Power Technologies Ltd (IPT) is pleased to introduce the very latest commercial development in fuel cell technology: an industrial prototype of 6 kW Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) generator “Cascade – IP”. The system introduced today is the first AFC generator ready for mass production. Working in close collaboration with Rocket Space Corporation “Energia”, IPT has invested over US$ 1 mio into development of this unique system.