General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, has delivered a fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit (APU) to SunLine Transit Agency for installation aboard “The 21st Century Truck,” a government-industry collaboration to develop commercially viable technologies that will cut fuel use and emissions of commercial trucks and buses.

As configured for the 21st Century Truck, the five-kilowatt power unit will act as a battery charger to electrify the air-conditioning and other driver utilities in the concept Class 8 tractor when it is parked, avoiding noise, emissions, and expense of running the vehicle's engine for electrical power. Class 8 trucks consume about 68% of all commercial truck fuel used, according to the United States Department of Energy.

Following the exciting announcements by the Bush Administration on the Hydrogen/Fuel Cell future, the U.S. Fuel Cell Council (USFCC) is expecting a flood of interest at the 2003 World Congress held by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) March 3rd through 6th in Detroit, Michigan.

The USFCC will be exhibiting at the Congress (Booth # 2267), which is expected to attract more than 45,000 participants. The SAE World Congress is the largest Original Equipment service, parts and components exhibition in the world.

The UK fuel cell technology industry can become a significant player in the world fuel cell market according to a report published by the DTI and Carbon Trust today. 

The Fuel Cells Market Study finds that, given the right investment, the UK industry can play a part in the global commercial breakthrough in fuel cell technology. 

Fuel cell technologies are said to have the long term potential to make a major breakthrough on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and accelerating the transition to a low carbon economy in the UK.

-Plug Power's Saillant: Quarterly Loss and  Fuel Cells(Bloomberg)

-Capstone's Microturbine Power Systems- RealAudio 1 |2|• WinMedia1| 2 | (GreenWave Radio)
 

The carbon composite bipolar plate is made of fiber-reinforced carbon material that separates cells in a fuel cell and acts as an electrode and gas barrier. Slurry-molded fibers with molded flow channels are sealed with vapor deposited carbon. The technology has been licensed to Porvair Fuel Cell Technology.

Westerville will install a fuel cell power generator in a demonstration project that may be the first of its kind in Ohio.

The $1.2-million project is made possible by an $839,016 grant from the Ohio Fuel Cell Initiative, a division of the Ohio Third Frontier Project. Gov. Bob Taft will formally present the check to local officials Thursday, and city officials are working to fund the rest of the cost, said Westerville Electric Utilities Manager Andrew Boatright.

Although similar systems are used to supplement power in specific buildings, organizers believe it may be the first time a fuel cell will be used in a municipal power grid.

While standard generators extract energy from fossil fuels by burning them, fuel cells extract energy using an electrochemical reaction. The Westerville plant will run on natural gas, said Kent Carson, director of member relations for American Municipal Power-Ohio, one of the sponsors of the project.

As part of its ongoing effort to diversify its energy supply and advance the implementation of clean, distributed generation on Long Island, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) announced today, at a McDonald's restaurant partially powered by a Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG - News) fuel cell, that it will purchase an additional 45 fuel cell systems for installation across Long Island this year, for the first time installing them in Long Island homes.

Medis Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MDTL - News) announced today that it has received notices of allowance from the United States Patent Office of all of its claims for patents covering the invention of the composition of the fuel that is used in its direct liquid fuel cell and the invention of a fuel cell for generating electrical power using the basic components of the fuel cell including the fuel composition.

Medis anticipates that the actual patents will be issued within three months from now.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft planned to lobby the Ohio congressional delegation today to support President Bush’s $1.2 billion fuel-cell initiative on grounds that Ohio could get "a lion’s share" of the money for the new technology.

Mr. Taft said that because Ohio is spending $103 million for research and development grants for fuel-cell development and has polymer, chemical, and electronics industries, the state is a leading candidate to be a major player in what he said could be a $100 billion industry within 20 years.

He said the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition has 100 members, including some of the state’s top companies and academic centers.

Mr. Taft announced a three-year fuel cell promotion plan last May and today will announce the recipients of grants totaling $6 million of that money.

Although there is criticism that hydrogen fuel cells are not yet a proven technology and that public investment in them is risky, Governor Taft said he is a firm believer fuel cells will produce cleaner energy, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and boost Ohio’s economy when the state’s significant investment in the internal combustion engine becomes outmoded.

He said he is convinced that Mr. Bush is pushing fuel cells out of determination they will fuel the next generation of cars and not as a political ploy to court environmentalists.

Stuart Energy Systems Corporation (TSX: HHO - News) announced today that 99% of the votes cast at the special meeting of Stuart Energy shareholders, held February 25, 2003, voted in favour of the acquisition by the Company of Vandenborre Technologies N.V. Stuart Energy will pay approximately CDN $9.9 million in cash and 7.3 million common shares of Stuart Energy. The Belgium-based Vandenborre Technologies is the industry's leader in the design, manufacture and sale of pressurized hydrogen generation systems based on advanced alkaline water electrolysis. Stuart Energy also announced that it expects triple-digit sales revenue growth and a 50% reduction in net cash burn in fiscal 2004 from the combined company.

AIKEN - Savannah River Site scientist William A. Summers shares a vision with President Bush.

The men foresee a future in which motorists don't feel held hostage by the decisions of a few countries in the Middle East. Instead of gasoline, consumers will be able to pick hydrogen.

Dr. Summers, the program manager for the Hydrogen Technology Laboratory at the Savannah River Technology Center, addressed the timely issue at a gathering of nuclear industry supporters Tuesday morning.

"As we all know, the current energy supply is unstable," he said.

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.

Text: Energy Secretary Abraham Announces Power Plant of the Future

"Vancouver 2010 is committed to environmental, economic and social sustainability in all its
plans and actions.  This unique demonstration of an emerging clean energy source, utilizing leading-edge Canadian technology and expertise, shows how this sustainability commitment can be achieved in delivering an outstanding Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010."

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) are expected to win a
contract to install one of the nation's first advanced utility-scale fuel cell power plants designed to feed power from a substation into a local electric distribution system.  The innovative project award is the first by the state of Ohio, which is investing more than $100 million in a three-year initiative to expand fuel cell research and development, including increased fuel cell
generating capacity.
    
The award, which is subject to negotiation and execution of a contract, proposes the installation of a 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant manufactured by FuelCell Energy and distributed by Caterpillar.  The formal contract is expected to be negotiated and signed within weeks and installation of the unit is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.

A new corporation, Astris Transportation Systems Inc. (ATSI), has been formed in Montreal, Quebec, as the operating entity of a $l5 million fuel cell development and production joint venture established last week by Astris Energi Inc., world leader in alkaline fuel cell technology, based here, and CareAction Inc., a diversified concern headquartered in the Montreal area.

ATSI will soon initiate installation of the world's first automated facility for mass production of electric energy-producing alkaline fuel cell systems of Astris design, according to F. Lynnwood Farr, who has been named president and CEO of the new company. Negotiations are nearing completion, he said, for acquisition of a building especially suited for this operation.

Stuart Energy Systems Corporation (TSX: HHO - News) announced today that it has closed the previously announced acquisition of Vandenborre Technologies N.V. for approximately CDN $9.5 million in cash and 7.3 million common shares of Stuart Energy. 

The Belgium-based Vandenborre Technologies is the industry's leader in the design, manufacture and sale of pressurized hydrogen generation systems based on advanced alkaline water electrolysis.