The station was officially inaugurated by Valgerdur Sverrisdottir, the Icelandic Minister of Industry and Commerce, who refuelled the first fuel cell vehicle in the presence of Jeroen van der  Veer, President of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and Vice Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies.

The Shell Hydrogen station is located next to an existing Shell station in Vesturlandsvegur in the east of the Icelandic capital. The station will be used to refuel three DaimlerChrysler fuel cell buses that will be run on Reykjavik's streets on a commercial basis by Straeto bs, the local bus company. Private hydrogen vehicles are expected to be driving on Iceland's streets in the future. The Icelandic authorities have issued all necessary permits for the station to operate on a commercial basis.

The Reykjavik hydrogen station incorporates the machinery, supplied by Norsk Hydro, to produce hydrogen from water by electrolysis. All of Iceland's electricity is generated from hydroelectric and geothermal sources. 

Genesis World Energy(TM), the company behind a revolutionary energy generation technology introduced in December 2002, has announced an automotive and transportation application that creates an on-demand source of hydrogen fuel for internal combustion engines. 
    
The Genesis HICEF (Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine Fuel) Technology represents a stunning breakthrough in hydrogen-based automotive power systems through its on-board, on-demand generation of hydrogen gas derived from water -- circumventing the need for either externally supplied sources of hydrogen or hydrogen generation based on chemicals or fossil fuel derivatives.

Avista Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avista Corp. , today announced it has completed a year-long demonstration of one of its fuel cell products installed at the Washington Air National Guard facility at Geiger Field in Spokane, Wash. The purpose of the demonstration was to run the fuel cell system in a base load application for a period of one year, achieving an availability rate of over 90 percent. The Avista Labs fuel cell system exceeded its target, with availability of 93.24 percent.

Since President George W. Bush's January 2003 State of the Union Address, the potential of
hydrogen fuel cell technology has captivated the attention of more than the general public.  Specifically, the Department of Defense has taken note of the opportunities provided by hydrogen fuel cells, and today as part of the Pentagon's Earth Day Celebration in Washington, DC, Air Products' mobile hydrogen fueling technology was on display as part of a special preview.
    
The hydrogen fueler, which comes complete with vehicle hook-ups, is currently in use in the commercial sector, but could also provide the military with additional fueling and energy options for base or field operations.
"This totally self-contained unit can be relocated by a variety of light duty vehicles.  It can provide hydrogen fuel for a five-vehicle fleet for up to three weeks," said Dr. Tama M. Copeman, director of Future Energy Solutions at Air Products.  "This technology has already been proven successful for
commercial industries.  We believe it holds great promise for military applications."

The US Fuel Cell Council (USFCC) will release the results of its first market study -- "Fuel Cells for Portable Power: Markets, Manufacture and Cost" - at the 5th Annual Small Fuel Cells 2003 conference in New Orleans, May 7-9, 2003.
    
The results will be presented by USFCC Technical Director Robert Wichert at the pre-conference workshop on May 7, at 5:20 p.m. The USFCC will also exhibit at the conference, which has sold out every year.
    
The market study identifies and quantifies selected portable power markets for fuel cells, evaluates the potential of fuel cells to compete in these markets, suggests high-priority market areas for fuel cell developers, evaluates market sensitivity to cost and identifies cost-reduction pathways likely to result from successful pursuit of portable power markets.

Millennium Cell Inc. (NASDAQ: MCEL), a leading technology company that has created a proprietary technology to safely store, generate and deliver pure hydrogen, is participating today in U.S. Department of Defense Earth Day activities in the Pentagon.

A fuel cell vehicle demonstration, hosted by Acting Secretary of the Navy H. T. Johnson, will feature automotive fuel cells and technology developments, including the DaimlerChrysler Town and Country Natrium(TM) powered by the Millennium Cell Hydrogen on Demand(TM) fuel system.

Millennium Cell Inc. (NASDAQ: MCEL), a leading technology solutions company that has created a proprietary technology to safely store, generate and deliver pure hydrogen today announced a Cooperative Development Agreement with Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology to advance fuel cell powered portable computers and communications devices.

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology focuses on the research of core technologies to create new business opportunities and develops revolutionary products to enable dramatic market change. The collaboration will combine Millennium Cell's Hydrogen On Demand(TM) fuel technology with Samsung's expertise in PEM fuel cell development, MEMS technologies and its leading position in the consumer electronics industry.

Fuel cell maker Ballard Power Systems said it sees some tough new challenges ahead for its alternative fuel technology for transportation applications.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Ballard said it is most concerned about what it calls "unfavorable government action" related to environmental policies. In particular, Ballard said the California Air Resources Board recently recommended delaying implementation of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandates in California until 2005, with New York and Massachusetts also proposing delaying ZEV mandates until 2007.

Hydrogen can be extracted from water using energy by electrolysis, thermolysis, and thermochemical cycles. The efficiency of electrolysis (electricity needed to produce hydrogen) is typically about 75-80%; however the electric power generation (thermal energy to electrical) is typically 30-35%. Hence, the conversion of water to hydrogen via commercial electrolysis has an overall efficiency of only 20-25%. Thermolysis, a process in which water is heated sufficiently to dissociate it into hydrogen and oxygen, requires very high temperatures. 

Stéphane Dion, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, on behalf of Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), today announced the creation of the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Hydrogen Storage. NSERC is providing $1 million in funding over five years. The Government of Canada's partners in this initiative are Hydrogenics Corporation and Stuart Energy Systems Corporation, who will jointly contribute $450,000 over five years.

With environmental quality and the U.S. dependence on foreign oil creating mounting concerns, members of both the public and private sectors are looking at fuel cells as a potential long-term solution. Long touted for their cleanliness and efficiency, fuel cells must also prove to be reliable and cost efficient.
    
A group of 14 corporations, regulatory agencies, and universities will work together in support of a program at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) to evaluate the performance of stationary fuel cell systems. BP, California Air Resources Board, California Power Authority, ChevronTexaco, Ecce Energy Corporation, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), Shell Hydrogen, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Southern California Gas Company, Southern Company, Texas A&M University, Texas State Energy Conservation Office, University of Houston, and Walt Disney Imagineering R&D are sponsors of HARC's Center for Fuel Cell Research and Applications for the 2003 program year. The Center's work will provide sponsors with engineering data regarding fuel cell operations and the commercial and industrial applications where they can be used.

The Fuel Cell Contamination Control(TM) (FC3) division of filtration leader Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) today announced a formal research partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory to study the effect of ambient contaminants on the performance, life and durability of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.
    
Sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Donaldson is using the research findings of the two-year program in its ongoing development of fuel cell filtration solutions. Donaldson's filtration expertise will be used in the development of air filtration and acoustics mitigation systems that prolong fuel-cell engine life. Filtration is a critical component in accelerating commercialization of a wide range of fuel cell-powered products, including automobiles, cell phones, laptop computers and power generation products.
    
"Donaldson leads the fuel cell industry in recognizing the need for intake-air filtration on the cathode of a fuel cell to ensure system reliability and performance," said Francisco Uribe, Fuel Cell Research Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory. "With this formal research agreement, we are applying Donaldson's leading-edge fuel cell filtration knowledge and products to our fuel cell experiments."

QUANTUM Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: QTWW), announced
today the signing of an agreement with Sumitomo Corporation (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8053 JP, ADR: SSUMY/OTC), one of the world's leading trading and investment firms.  Through this alliance, Sumitomo will have exclusive rights to represent QUANTUM to Japanese customers and to market
QUANTUM's products for use in the global alternative fuel and fuel cell markets.  Sumitomo will also manage product certification activities for QUANTUM's Japanese markets.  The agreement also forms the basis for an option to expand this relationship to other Asia Pacific countries, and an option for Sumitomo to make a future strategic investment in QUANTUM.
 

Anuvu Fuel Cell Products, Inc. ("Fuel Cell Products") of Sacramento, CA announces the receipt of a purchase order for a 6 kW fuel cell system to provide power for an electric powered, multi-hulled boat used to ferry tourists in Southern California coastal harbors. 

The purchase order was placed by Seaworthy Systems of Essex, CT. Seaworthy is a long established and highly regarded marine design firm with particular expertise in power system development, optimization, and integration in a variety of marine applications. Seaworthy is funded by the Center for the Commercial Deployment of Transportation Technologies (CCDoTT), California State University, Long Beach, Foundation, to develop a zero emission, demonstration electric boat. Fuel Cell Products was selected as the fuel cell system provider after an extensive competitive bidding and technology assessment process. 

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL - News) announced today that it has been selected by the Department of Energy as a new project participant for its Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) program, subject to negotiation of a final agreement. The total project award amount for the ten-year solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) development program is approximately $139 million that will be cost-shared with the DOE.

With fuel cells playing a prominent role in President Bush (news - web sites)'s "hydrogen initiative," Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham (news - web sites) today announced plans to add two new projects valued at more than $213 million to its program to make these hydrogen-fueled power systems so inexpensive they could become commonplace in America's power market during the next decade.

For much of the three-week-long race to Baghdad, supply lines were a major cause of concern for military planners in Iraq. The lines, which stretched hundreds of kilometers all the way back to Kuwait, proved difficult to defend. But they were necessary to provide the millions of liters of fuel to the tanks and other heavy-duty vehicles involved in the operation. And it's the cost and logistics of moving so much fuel that has U.S. military leaders interested in ways to improve their fuel economy and reduce their dependence on traditional fuels

Reports in the April 7th edition of The Nikkei Weekly note the development of residential fuel cells in Japan. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (also known as Panasonic) apparently has plans to market its fuel cell product from as early as Spring 2005. High efficiency, durability and low cost are seen as important to customers. Target costs are in the region of one million Yen per unit (US$8,500) but Matsushita are unlikely to meet this target with inital pricing expected to be closer to 3 million Yen per piece. As a result, Matsushita is looking to lease out early fuel cell products rather than selling them outright. 

The Company is pleased to announce the signing of a strategic research initiative with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) involving its Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology (ICPET). This research will address reactive flow modeling of chemical processes and will be conducted at the NRC Innovation Center (IC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, ICPET in Ottawa, Ontario and at Palcan's facilities in Burnaby, British Columbia. The rationale behind this project is to reinforce linkages with industrial organizations carrying out advanced product development. The total estimated budget to examine the objectives is $700,000, with NRC contributing $345,000 in labour and hardware while Palcan will contribute in technological expertise. As a collaborative research project, Palcan will build experiment rigs, and provide empirical data for parameters required to develop and evaluate the models. 

University of La Verne's chemistry department and Clean Fuel Generation, LLC will unveil their innovative propane fuel cell system (FCS). The first of its kind, the FCS is significant because it creates up to 20 kilowatts of electric power, and is intended initially to power recreational vehicles. As with the methanol system the department unveiled two years ago, this propane FCS is an innovation in electricity generation. The actual fuel cell itself has no or very little pollution, is environmentally safe and doesn't make noise.