Hyundai Motor Co. announced on February 6 that it has teamed up with five international rivals in order to accelerate R&D work on enhanced hydrogen storage systems for automotive fuel cell power systems.

Hyundai said the alliance, which includes Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, would cooperate in developing high pressure hydrogen fuel systems capable of safely storing more compressed gas at vehicles. 

"The 700 bar storage pressure will facilitate the design of fuel cell vehicles with a range comparable to the range of petroleum-fueled vehicles," Hyundai said in a statement. Hyundai said prototype fuel cell vehicles currently use 350 bar compressed hydrogen fuel systems. 

The six automakers aim to complete development by January 2004 and commercialise the fuel system by 2005. 

Neah Power Systems Inc. has announced a prototype porous-silicon micro fuel cell that it believes can be made to reach a capacity of 150 watt-hours by year's end. That would amount to nearly three times the capacity of current lithium-ion or lithium-polymer-based laptop batteries.

The fuel cell is Neah's response to the power needs of millions of untethered Wi-Fi-enabled laptop-computer users, although the company also expects the technology to find use in cell phones and other portable devices.

Enova Systems (OTCBB:ENVA) announced that Enova President and CEO Carl Dean Perry and board member James Strock were among invited guests at President Bush's February 6th kickoff of his hydrogen fuel cell initiative, announced in his recent State of the Union address.

Speaking at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., President Bush called for continued "entrepreneurial leadership," toward meeting his goal of seeing that "our grandchildren's first car" would be powered by fuel cells.

Mr. Perry and other leaders from across the spectrum of industries involved in the fuel cell effort were present.

Responding to President Bush's challenge, Enova's Perry stated: "By making fuel cells a national priority -- and by linking their development to naational security, oil independence, environmental protection and technological advancement -- President Bush is significantly boosting our industry. Enova looks forward to assisting his administration and the congress as they refine the president's $1.2 billion investment."

IdaTech participated in the Bush Administration's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative February 6 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. President George W. Bush spoke about his proposed $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel cell initiative included in the Administration's FY 2004 budget submitted to Congress earlier this week. IdaTech and 21 other leaders of hydrogen infrastructure, automotive and fuel cell development were invited by the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy to show the VIP delegation state-of-the-art technology and products. Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Environmental Protection Agency Christie Todd-Whitman supported the President's announcement, and led a VIP delegation on a tour of exhibits ranging from fuel cell systems to fuel cell-powered concept automobiles.

Karlsruhe, Germany: On Friday, 07.02.2003, a 250kW Molten Carbonate fuel cell was installed in Michelin’s tyre plant in Karlsruhe. The project, supported by the energy utility company Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW), the local energy supplier Stadtwerke Karlsruhe and DaimlerChrysler’s subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen did cost around Euro 3.6 million (US$ 3.9 million). 

The HotModule is a technology developed with a decentralized and small power station in mind and now, after more than ten years of development, is presently in the testing in practice phase. This includes putting plants of this type into various areas of application to test their suitability for everyday service. 

To become a reality, the hydrogen economy will need to overcome many obstacles, among them supply and infrastructure development. One company, Stuart Energy Systems of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, is addressing those challenges with its proprietary water electrolysis technology. No hydrocarbons needed. The technology uses electricity to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, making hydrogen available for use in stationary and mobile applications.

Leading Stuart Energy is President and CEO Jon Slangerup. From 1993 to April 2000, Slangerup was President of FedEx Canada. During his tenure at FedEx, he maintained double-digit revenue growth, doubled its international market share and generated strong profit growth and margins.

As America prepares for a possible war with oil-rich Iraq, there's growing sentiment that developing an energy source other than oil will solve a lot of problems. 

Among the first in the world to seriously propose relying on just such an alternative -- hydrogen fuel -- was the University of Miami's Nejat Veeziroglu. 

Veziroglu said if America switched from oil and natural gas to hydrogen power,  "the cities (would) be clean and bright. No emissions!" 

SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (SFC) obtained CE conformity for their fuel cell system "SFC 25.2500 R" after intensive testing at accredited laboratories. This means that the product is certified to comply with all relevant industry standards of the European Union. In addition, the exchangeable fuel cartridge "M2500" containing 2.5 litre neat methanol was successfully certified by the TUEV. It is now labelled with the TUEV mark and the "GS" label ("safety tested"). The TUEV - Technischer Ueberwachungsverein - is Euurope's leading product certification authority, much like UL in North America. The Smart Fuel Cell is the first fuel cell product world-wide that has reached these important certifications. SFC had already obtained IATA (International Air Transport Organization) certification as official shipper of methanol cartridges, and U.N. (United Nations) approval for the cartridge for transport onboard aircraft. 

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) has announced that a Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant built by its partner in Europe, MTU CFC Solutions Gmbh, a company of DaimlerChrysler AG, has begun operating at a Michelin tire plant in Karlsruhe, Germany. The power plant, which is being operated on the Michelin site by EnBW Energie Baden-Wurttemberg AG, Germany's third-largest energy company, will supply both electricity and process steam for tire vulcanization for the facility. The fuel cells in the power plant were manufactured by FuelCell Energy and shipped to MTU for incorporation into their power plant known as the "Hot Module."

STM Power, Inc. has announced completion of one of the world's most innovative applications of hydrogen- enabled technology.

With the completion of its beta product assembly, STM now has a fleet of 50 external combustion, Stirling-cycle PowerUnits in its field-testing program. This 1.2-megawatt fleet is the largest deployment to date of commercial-sized external combustion engines using STM technology.

Each of the 25-kilowatt (kWe) electricity-generating PowerUnits is powered by heat energy transferred by high-pressure hydrogen in STM's Stirling-cycle engine. This hydrogen is constantly monitored and replenished using STM's proprietary software combined with a hydrogen electrolysis unit.

General Motors Corp. completed the first successful vehicle test of a 10,000 PSI hydrogen storage system, allowing the company to increase the driving range of its compressed hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Sharp Corporation and the Kyoto-based Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth have developed technology necessary for the creation of garbage-powered fuel cells.

Called biological fuel cells, the devices use bacteria to produce hydrogen that in turn can be used to produce energy.

The bacteria dine on glucose created by liquefying and refining kitchen waste. 

Biological fuel cells offer advantages in size, environmental friendliness and the ability to operate at room temperature. A two-litre cell could power an entire household. 

The trick for Sharp and RITE was getting bacteria to live longer and produce more hydrogen, dramatically increasing their production efficiency.

The partners now want to create small biological fuel cells for appliances and homes. 

They aim to test such devices in two years. 

An Irvine fuel systems firm has received approval in Europe to sell a pressurized fuel tank that will extend the driving range of experimental hydrogen-powered cars.

The carbon fiber and epoxy tank from Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. will give a 60% boost in range to hydrogen-using fuel-cell cars being developed by a variety of automakers and hailed by President Bush as the zero-emission, oil-independent passenger vehicles of the future.

General Motors Corp., which holds a 19.9% interest in Quantum, will announce today that it has installed the first of the company's new tanks on its HydroGen3 fuel-cell car in Europe. Quantum is believed to be about a year ahead of competitors in developing a lightweight co

Fuel-cell bill highlights: 

• New fuel-cell cars: Purchasers get tax credit of up to $50,000 for 25 percent of the price of the car. Credits phased out by 2015. 

• Selling hydrogen fuel: Retailers would receive a 50-cent sales-tax credit for each gasoline-gallon equivalent of hydrogen fuel sold. Credits expire in 2014. Hydrogen users who refuel at home or office get same credit. 

• Producing hydrogen fuel: Hydrogen producers would get a $10 tax credit for each barrel-of-oil equivalent produced. Hydrogen made from renewable energy resources would get larger credits. Bill asks Congress not to tax hydrogen fuel until 2014. 

• Refueling stations: Anyone who installs refueling equipment in their home or office would get tax credit of up to $1,000 for 50 percent of the cost of the equipment. Manufacturers of hydrogen refueling equipment and operators of hydrogen refueling stations would also get tax breaks. 

It sounded great, and the White House used the phrase widely to promote President Bush's vision of cars running on hydrogen instead of imported oil.

But now the government has banished the phrase. It turns out the term is registered for commercial use for a number of products or services.

Among other things, Freedom Fuel is sold for $12.15 as a gasoline additive by Amway, a big GOP donor. There is also a Freedom Fuel Club that makes available a card for gasoline purchases at a chain of convenience stores.

Whatever the potential legal concerns, the Freedom Fuel flap took on a sense of urgency at the White House and the Energy Department.

The European Commission is funding a three year initiative to develop the technology to deliver hydrogen fuel pumps to petrol stations by connecting them to a country's existing natural gas supply.

The international Hydrofueler project is being led by the University of Warwick's 'Warwick process technology group', and will receive 1.62 million euro funding under the energy, environment and sustainable development programme of the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5).

Dr Ashok Bhattacharya, Director of the Warwick process technology group, told CORDIS News: 'We believe we have developed the first practical process that provides a clean and efficient source of hydrogen on a wide scale using pre-existing infrastructure. This project aims to deliver a viable source of hydrogen for petrol stations, but the same techniques could equally provide sustainable solutions for businesses and the home.'