COLUMBIA — Eleven of the major players in the emerging hydrogen fuel cell industry will be partners with the University of South Carolina in the newly designated National Science Foundation's national fuel cell research center at USC. 

"These are primary players in this field of research who have come together as partners. It's important to have the early primary players," said James Clark, chairman of the USC Research Foundation. 

While it's difficult to know in advance who will be the IBM or Intel of the fuel cell energy revolution, Clark said, it's important to have a diverse set of players. 

The European Union and the United States agreed today to pool research efforts into hydrogen fuel cells, despite having widely differing views on how the technology will impact on future energy policy.

While the EU views hydrogen-powered fuel cells as a means to harness renewable sources of energy like solar or wind energy, the United States is focusing on ways to extract hydrogen from fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

"This agreement lays out the framework for our two entities to collaborate on a matter important to both the U.S. and the European Union - hydrogen research," said U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham at a meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels.

Hydrogen economy might impact Earth's stratosphere, study shows

According to conventional wisdom, hydrogen-fueled cars are environmentally friendly because they emit only water vapor -- a naturally abundant atmospheric gas. But leakage of the hydrogen gas that can fuel such cars could cause problems for the upper atmosphere, new research shows.

In an article appearing this week in the journal Science, researchers from the California Institute of Technology report that the leaked hydrogen gas that would inevitably result from a hydrogen economy, if it accumulates, could indirectly cause as much as a 10-percent decrease in atmospheric ozone. The researchers are physics research scientist Tracey Tromp, Assistant Professor of Geochemistry John Eiler, planetary science professor Yuk Yung, planetary science research scientist Run-Lie Shia, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Mark Allen.

If hydrogen were to replace fossil fuel entirely, the researchers estimate that 60 to 120 trillion grams of hydrogen would be released each year into the atmosphere, assuming a 10-to-20-percent loss rate due to leakage. This is four to eight times as much hydrogen as is currently released into the atmosphere by human activity, and would result in doubling or tripling of inputs to the atmosphere from all sources, natural or human.

Because molecular hydrogen freely moves up and mixes with stratospheric air, the result would be the creation of additional water at high altitudes and, consequently, an increased dampening of the stratosphere. This in turn would result in cooling of the lower stratosphere and disturbance of ozone chemistry, which depends on a chain of chemical reactions involving hydrochloric acid and chlorine nitrate on water ice.

The estimates of potential damage to stratospheric ozone levels are based on an atmospheric modeling program that tests the various scenarios that might result, depending on how much hydrogen ends up in the stratosphere from all sources, both natural and anthropogenic.

Ideally, a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle has no environmental impact. Energy is produced by combining hydrogen with oxygen pulled from the atmosphere, and the tailpipe emission is water. The hydrogen fuel could come from a number of sources (Iceland recently started pulling it out of the ground). Nuclear power could be used to generate the electricity needed to split water, and in principle, the electricity needed could also be derived from renewable sources such as solar or wind power.

By comparison, the internal combustion engine uses fossil fuels and produces many pollutants, including soot, noxious nitrogen and sulfur gases, and the "greenhouse gas" carbon dioxide. While a hydrogen fuel-cell economy would almost certainly improve urban air quality, it has the potential unexpected consequences due to the inevitable leakage of hydrogen from cars, hydrogen production facilities, the transportation of the fuel.

Uncertainty remains about the effects on the atmosphere because scientists still have a limited understanding of the hydrogen cycle. At present, it seems likely such emissions could accumulate in the air. Such a build-up would have several consequences, chief of which would be a moistening and cooling of the upper atmosphere and, indirectly, destruction of ozone.

In this respect, hydrogen would be similar to the chlorofluorocarbons (once the standard substance used for air conditioning and refrigeration), which were intended to be contained within their devices, but which in practice leaked into the atmosphere and attacked the stratospheric ozone layer.

The authors of the Science article say that the current situation is unique in that society has the opportunity to understand the potential environmental impact well ahead of the growth of a hydrogen economy. This contrasts with the cases of atmospheric carbon dioxide, methyl bromide, CFCs, and lead, all of which were released into the environment by humans long before their consequences were understood.

"We have an unprecedented opportunity this time to understand what we're getting into before we even switch to the new technology," says Tromp, the lead author. "It won't be like the case with the internal-combustion engine, when we started learning the effects of carbon dioxide decades later."

The question of whether or not hydrogen is bad for the environment hinges on whether the planet has the ability to consume excess anthropogenic hydrogen, explains Eiler. "This man-made hydrogen will either be absorbed in the soil -- a process that is still poorly understood but likely free of environmental consequences -- or react with other compounds in the atmosphere.

"The balance of these two processes will be key to the outcome," says Eiler. "If soils dominate, a hydrogen economy might have little effect on the environment. But if the atmosphere is the big player, the stratospheric cooling and destruction of ozone modeled in this Science paper are more likely to occur.

"Determining which of these two processes dominates should be a solvable problem," states Eiler, whose research group is currently exploring the natural budget of hydrogen using new isotopic techniques.

"Understanding the effects of hydrogen on the environment now should help direct the technologies that will be the basis of a hydrogen economy," Tromp adds. "If hydrogen emissions present an environmental hazard, then recognizing that hazard now can help guide investments in technologies to favor designs that minimize leakage.

"On the other hand, if hydrogen is shown to be environmentally friendly in every respect, then designers could pursue the most cost-effective technologies and potentially save billions in needless safeguards."

"Either way, it's good for society that we have an emission scenario at this stage," says Eiler. "In past cases -- with chlorofluorocarbons, nitrogen oxides, methane, methyl bromide, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide -- we always found out that there were problems long after they were in common use. But this time, we have a unique opportunity to study the anthropogenic implications of a new technology before it's even a problem."

If hydrogen indeed turns out to be bad for the ozone layer, should the transition to hydrogen-fueled cars be abandoned? Not necessarily, Tromp and Eiler claim.

"If it's the best way to provide a new energy source for our needs, then we can, and probably should, do it," Tromp says.

Eiler adds, "If we had had perfect foreknowledge of the effects of carbon dioxide a hundred years ago, would we have abandoned the internal combustion engine? Probably not. But we might have begun the process of controlling CO2 emissions earlier."

Hydrogen is a clean fuel. Its use is not associated with local emissions like carbon dioxide, soot, methane, other hydrocarbons, etc. But could its large scale use, together with corresponding releases to the atmosphere, somehow harm the environment in an indirect way? 

Indeed, this is the message of a paper in the acknowledged Science magazine (Tromp et al., 300 (2003) 1740ff). The authors assume that all processes based on fossil fuels will be replaced by ones using hydrogen, combine this with assumptions about the release of hydrogen to the atmosphere by leaks and other losses, and calculate values for the concentration of hydrogen near the earth surface. Using methods from climate research they find that this would enhance the water content of the stratosphere, which in turn would cool the latter and slow down the closing of the ozone holes. 

There is no discussion that every fuel must be investigated for its complete ecological impact. Unfortunately DWV finds that this has not been done in a sound way in the Science paper mentioned. Here a few detail comments:

• Hydrogen technology has been here for more than a century, namely in the chemical industry. The amounts associated with the energetic use of hydrogen will for many years remain below those generated and consumed in the industry. So why do we not find the predicted concentrations now?
• It is neither likely nor even desirable that all fossil fuels will be simply replaced by hydrogen. Direct use of sustainable energy and new processes with higher efficiency would in many cases eliminate the need for a fuel like hydrogen.
• Combustion of fossil fuels leads to the generation of hydrogen as well. One source is the photochemical decomposition of methane (natural gas) released to the atmosphere, another are reactions of carbon monoxide generated in incomplete combustions with water. Direct use of hydrogen would eliminate these sources.
• Losses of 10 to 20 % in handling hydrogen are taken from thin air, both for present and for future applications. The literature given as proof has been quoted in a distorted way; sometimes the sources say rather the contrary of what they are used for.
• The conclusion from the (doubtful) emissions to the concentrations in the atmosphere is simplistic and thus unfounded. The authors admit that a number of other important factors have not been taken into account, such as the decomposition rates which increase with emission, the hydrogen intake of the soil, and other atmospheric processes.

• Decreasing our energy consumption, starting with the biggest consumers, enhancing efficiencies, and above all the transition from fossil fuels to renewable primary energies are mandatory for securing our future.
• Hydrogen offers a means to store and transport energy wherever this can not be done using electricity. The latter will remain our most important energy for the foreseeable future.
• Hydrogen is clean and safe.
• Fuel cells are not only clean and quiet, but their high efficiency contributes to the reasonable use of our resources.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham today delivered a keynote address to the European Commission's (EC) Conference of the High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell (HLG-HFC) technologies, in which he noted the emphasis that both the United States and the EC have placed in their respective hydrogen initiatives as well as their mutual cooperation and achievements in the area.

Shell Hydrogen, a global business of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, today signed a development, marketing and sales agency agreement with Vandenborre Technologies N.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Stuart Energy Systems Corporation. The agreement gives Shell Hydrogen access to Vandenborre's electrolyser-based hydrogen home refuelling products. 

A home hydrogen refuelling unit consists of a small-scale electrolyser powered by mains electricity that converts water from the domestic supply into a slow stream of hydrogen. The only local emission is oxygen. The technology offers the prospect of drivers parking in their front drives or parking spaces at the end of the day and connecting their vehicles to home refuelling units for a steady refill overnight. 

Under the agreement, Shell Hydrogen obtains non-exclusive rights to act as agent for Vandenborre's home refuelling technology. Shell Hydrogen will conduct market analysis of the potential of home hydrogen refuelling, while Vandenborre Technologies will develop and manufacture home refuelling units. The companies expect to introduce a first prototype for field testing.

The Commission President, Romano Prodi, has put his weight behind a newly published report by the high level group on hydrogen and fuel cells, which calls for a European strategic research agenda and roadmap to help create a hydrogen economy.

Mr Prodi signalled his support during an opening speech to the two day conference on 'the hydrogen economy: a bridge to sustainable energy' which began in Brussels on 16 June.

'We [the Commission] are strongly committed to a vision of a European economy based entirely on renewable sources of energy by the middle of this century,' said Mr Prodi. 'We need to define a European research agenda and strategy, leading to a road map for implementation.'

The high level group was created with the backing of Mr Prodi in 2002 by Commissioner for Transport and Energy, Loyola de Palacio, and Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin. Its report, entitled 'hydrogen energy and fuel cells: a vision of our future', outlines the research, deployment and non technical steps that are necessary for Europe to move towards a hydrogen economy. The report also acted as the basis for the Brussels conference.

It concludes that five key elements are required in order to begin the transition from fossil fuels towards a hydrogen based economy: a supportive political framework; a strategic research agenda; a deployment strategy; a European road map for hydrogen and fuel cells; and a European hydrogen and fuel cell partnership.

The high level group of senior representatives from industry and research institutions recommended in their report that a strategic research agenda should bring together the best researchers in Europe to generate a critical mass of resources, efforts and competencies to overcome the technical barriers and socio-economic issues that exist.

Specifically, the report says the agenda should address the technological challenges of hydrogen production, distribution, storage, infrastructure and safety, and of fuel cell performance, durability and cost. Furthermore, it should contribute to the ongoing review and refinement of a European hydrogen road map, with targets and review criteria based on research results.

Zoot Enterprises announced today that they have received two fuel cell power plants that will be installed at its Galactic Park high-technology campus located eight miles west of Bozeman.

Zoot plans to use the two 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plants manufactured by FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL) of Danbury, Conn. in conjunction with traditional diesel fuel generators and the electric grid to meet the electrical reliability requirements of its building and to support future development for its online credit processing operations at the campus.

"We are truly excited that we have reached the next milestone in bringing clean, reliable fuel cell power to Galactic Park," says Chris Nelson, founder and CEO of Zoot Enterprises. "The delivery of these two units keeps us on track to have the fuel cells up and running by late summer."

The DFC power plants use natural gas for fuel and produce electric power and hot water for heating and domestic uses.

Zoot Enterprises purchased the fuel cells from the distributed generation arm of PPL EnergyPlus, which has a sales and marketing office in Butte. Additionally, PPL has an equity investment in FuelCell Energy and is a distributor of its fuel cells in North America.

Jiri K. Nor, president and CEO of Astris Energi Inc. (OTC BB: ASRNF), pioneering developers of alkaline fuel cell technology, reported today that the company has engaged First Energy Advisors Inc. to raise US$10 million in stages to pursue commercialization of its newest fuel cell system, the POWERSTACK MC250.

Affiliates of First Energy Advisors already have invested more than $500,000 in Astris over the past six months, which funds have been used toward the prototyping and testing of the MC250.

As this new funding is made available, Nor said, it will be used to bring the company's much-advanced MC250 fuel cell into pilot production. The prototype system, developed by Astris' Benesov, Czech Republic subsidiary, has successfully completed an exhaustive testing protocol here at Mississauga headquarters and is ready for commercialization.

Astris long ago chose to pioneer development of alkaline fuel cell (AFC) technology because of its inherent technical and economic advantages over the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology being developed by other North American fuel cell concerns. AFCs provide superior performance, yet can be fabricated from low-cost materials, avoiding the expensive platinum catalysts required by PEMs. Alkaline systems also will operate at sub-zero temperatures where competing fuel cell systems cannot.

16 June 2003 saw the official launch of the first commercial fuel cell in the UK in Woking, twenty miles south-west of London. 

The Woking Park fuel cell provides power to a swimming pool and lighting system. The heat produced will also provide the pool's air conditioning, cooling and dehumidification requirements via heat fired absorption cooling. 

The Woking Park fuel cell, manufactured by UTC Fuel Cells of the United States, is an initiative of Woking Borough Council. Through its joint venture services company, Thameswey Energy Limited, it aims to design, build, finance and operate small scale CHP stations, fuel cells and other sustainable and renewable energy systems to provide energy services by private wire and distributed heating and cooling networks to institutional, commercial and residential customers. 

The Woking Park fuel cell project is supported by commercial and governmental organisations from the United Kingdom, Denmark and the United States of America. The launch also saw the unveiling of a statue of British scientist Sir William Grove, commemorating his invention of the fuel cell, and the opening of the Grove Garden within which the fuel cell is set. 

Palcan Fuel Cells is pleased to announce the integration of its 2 Kw fuel cell stack
system to power the next global transportation solution. The fuel cell powered scooter is a highly marketable alternative designed specifically to address the world's need for a low-end mass transport vehicle. 

Palcan's unique fuel cell uses the Company's metal hydride hydrogen storage technology to power the scooter. The Asian and European markets are direct targets for Palcan's prototype power supply. It is aimed directly at the market for smaller internal combustion engine (ICE) developed for two and three wheeled applications. These include rickshaws, small transport vehicles and scooters. 

Market survey reports estimate European production at 24 million two-wheeled scooters annually. In Asia, the market dwarfs that number as the smaller ICE engines exhaust effluent is a considerable environmental nuisance and governments are in need of solutions. 

Showa Shell Sekiyu KK (Tokyo:5002.T - News) has opened the first hydrogen station in Tokyo, part of a worldwide push to supply fuel cell powered vehicles.

Showa Shell, 50 percent owned by Royal Dutch/Shell (Amsterdam:RD.AS - News; London:SHEL.L - News), opened the station in the central Tokyo Odaiba district, the energy giant's Shell Hydrogen unit said in a statement.

 Shell opened its first hydrogen station in Iceland in April and plans to start selling hydrogen at a Washington DC gas station later this year.

 Fuel oil cell vehicles use electricity produced from compressed hydrogen, cutting out emissions of the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming.

London (UK) - Almost 2,800 employees are working in more than 350 organisations in Germany on fuel cell related activities, according to a new report by online resource, Fuel Cell Today (www.fuelcelltoday.com). Already in the 1950s, companies such as Siemens and Varta had started working on alkaline fuel cells (AFC). Many fuel cell demonstration initiatives have been first set up in Germany. Today, the country’s fuel cell industry is amongst other leaders such as Japan, the USA and Canada 

“This survey is similarly structured to our other surveys about various applications, technologies and geographical areas”, explains Stefan Geiger, author of the new report. "We have evaluated the activities of all German companies and organisations which have shown an interest in fuel cells. Although everybody claims to know where the industry will go, no one has ever analysed the current activities.” 

Avista Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA), has received approval from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to sell its Independence 500(TM) fuel cells to the federal government community.  The contract, which runs through April 30, 2008, allows the 500-watt fuel cell to be sold under the classification of power distribution equipment, generators, and batteries.

Mechanical Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTY) held its annual shareholders meeting
Thursday, June 19, 2003, in Albany, New York, and discussed Company
activities, and progress. Audio playback of executive presentations and
accompanying PowerPoint slides will be available by or before 5 p.m. on
Friday, June 20th, on the Company's website, http://www.mechtech.com.

Dale W. Church, CEO and chairman of the Company, spoke about progress at
the parent company and within MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc., and MTI Instruments
Inc., the Company's two subsidiaries.

According to Nikkei/Dow Jones, Nissan Motor Company aims to invest 85 billion Yen (US$ 715 million) in fuel cell research and development over the next five years. 

Carlos Ghosn, President and Chief Exedcutive of Nissan told shareholders that the development of fuel cell vehicles is a priority for management. About 965 of Nissan's shareholders met earlier Thursday for nearly three hours. 

While development of the technology faces many obstacles in terms of cost and performance, commercialization of a high-performance fuel-cell automobile is expected to determine which automakers are competitive in the future. 

Nissan unveiled a new fuel cell vehicle (X-Trail) in December 2002. The vehicle is powered by a UTC fuel cell. Nissan intends to start public road testing of the vehicle in Japan in 2003. The company is also a member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. 

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Later this decade, consumers will have the option to buy hydrogen fuel cell cars, but chances are they won't rush to purchase them unless they're offered a tax break from the government, according to lawmakers and car manufacturers.

Some of the leading authorities on this emerging technology are in the nation's capital this week lobbying Congress to adopt an energy plan that will spur consumer interest in hydrogen-powered cars. The Electric Drive Transportation Association sponsored Wednesday's conference.

While some manufacturers have already produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicles - albeit at a very expensive cost - consumers probably won't have the option to buy these cars at an affordable price for at least another 10 years, according to some industry estimates.

Attendees at the Canadian Hydrogen Association conference in Vancouver (June 8-11, 2003) were able to tour the world's first 700 bar hydrogen filling station at Powertech Labs. The station was opened in November 2002 as part of the Compressed Hydrogen Infrastructure Program (CHIP), sponsored by BC Hydro, BOC Gases, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dynetek Industries, Shell Hydrogen, Stuart Energy, and government agencies. 

 The tour groups were treated to 700 bar fast fill demonstrations involving tanks being filled with hydrogen in less that 40 seconds. The attendees were able to touch the tanks immediately on completion of the filling operations, to see for themselves the temperatures that were generated. Visitors were also able to witness hydraulic burst tests of tanks, and view the results of various tests that had been performed on a wide range of hydrogen tank technologies. The tour demonstrated to hydrogen conference delegates that compressed hydrogen at 700 bar was safe and technically feasible. 

Membrane Reactor Technologies (MRT) recently announced the commissioning of an industrial-grade demonstration unit which generates low-cost, high-purity hydrogen more efficiently than conventional methods such as natural gas reforming. Based on a novel fluidised-bed membrane reactor, the process combines hydrocarbon reforming, shift conversion and hydrogen purification. 

The demonstration unit was commissioned and will be operated at the National Research Council Institute of Canada Fuel Cell Centre in Vancouver. MRT has completed the conceptual design of a Beta unit specifically aimed at the growing industrial market for intermediate-scale hydrogen. The company intends to commence constructing beta-units in the coming months. 

Hydrogenics Corporation (Nasdaq: HYGS and TSX: HYG) announced today that its
Board of Directors has approved and adopted various new or revised corporate
governance practices following a comprehensive review of its corporate
governance undertaken in 2002.  These new and revised corporate governance
practices were adopted by the Board of Directors in order to best comply with
the proposed TSX Disclosure and Continued Listing Requirements and Guidelines
(and other Canadian securities legislation) as well as the Nasdaq proposed
Corporate Governance Listing Standards, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other US
securities legislation to which the Company is subject.

Osaka, (Jiji Press)--Osaka Gas Co. said Thursday it has reached separate agreements with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. , Sanyo Electric Co. and two other firms to jointly develop polymer electrolyte fuel cell-led cogeneration systems. The PEFC cogeneration system uses gas to generate electricity and hot water. 

Osaka Gas plans to launch domestic versions of the product in fiscal 2005 after developing cogeneration systems with each of Matsushita, Sanyo, Ebara Ballard Corp. and Toshiba International Fuel Cells Corp. 

Osaka Gas will study the performance of the four firms' prototypes and decide which one or ones to continue to work with. The current cooperation agreements run until the end of March 2004. Cogeneration systems are not cheap, priced at 1.2 million yen per unit, but are expected to help average four-member families cut utility charges by about 40,000 yen per year. Ebara Ballard is affiliated with engineering firm Ebara Corp. and Toshiba International Fuel Cells with electronics maker Toshiba Corp. .