A report in Monday's Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that the computer and chip maker has developed a commercially viable long-life fuel cell that can be used in mobile PCs. 

The fuel cell will weigh 900 grams and enable notebook computers to run for 40 consecutive hours of operation, about 10 times longer than lithium-ion batteries, the report said. The new fuel cell features electrons made of carbon nanohorn, with a number of needle-like extrusions. By attaching platinum to its extrusions, NEC has expanded the electrode's surface area 

Tokyo-based NEC and its rivals Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. are developing fuel-cell batteries as demand for longer-lasting batteries to link potable devices such as mobile phone and video cameras to data networks is expected to rise. 

The Nihon Keizai newspaper yesterday reported NEC will unveil a trial version on July 13 and plans to release a notebook PC with a built-in fuel cell within two years. a version of reduced power should be on the 
market by as early as next year.this reduced power version will be able to run for five consecutive hours on a single cartridge of methanol fuel. 

NEC previously demonstrated a prototype in Feb,2004, at the International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference held in Feb.2004. 

Gore Fuel Cell Technologies disclosed today its capabilities to design and manufacture
low cost, high-performance ionomers for fuel cell applications.

Gore ionomers, which have been used in a variety of commercial GORE(TM) MEAs since mid-2002, 
have enabled several new MEA performance and durability milestones, including long-life operation
at higher temperatures and under lower humidification.

The new ionomers have been field-tested and proven over the past year in automotive and stationary
applications under myriad operating conditions.  The ionomers have also contributed to accelerating 
the development of a new MEA for portable power, slated for commercial launch later this year.

"This is one of the most significant ionomer advancements in over a decade, with a demonstrated
 real-world impact on performance," said John Mongan, Business Leader for Gore Fuel Cell Technologies. 
"It opens up a whole new realm of possibilities in MEA development, and will 
contribute directly toward lowering the cost of both materials and manufacturing."

DTE Energy Technologies, a non-regulated subsidiary of DTE Energy Co. (NYSE: DTE) will remotely monitor and control Plug Power fuel cell systems via the company's proprietary energy|now System Operations Center(TM) (SOC).

Through an agreement between Plug Power of Latham, N.Y., (Nasdaq: PLUG) and DTE Energy Technologies, the companies plan to make available to all future customers of Plug Power fuel cells the ability to use the energy|now System Operations Center to make remote monitoring an available feature on all systems.

The energy|now SOC is a web-based, remote monitoring and control service that provides the opportunity for on-site energy users to add centralized, end-to-end management of all the vital functions required to serve electric loads and maintain the reliability of on-site energy systems.  Information can be accessed over the Internet around the clock and can be archived for up to three years.
 

The SOC also can be integrated with primary electric and gas meters and provides peak demand notification to enable customers to better manage their energy costs.  The SOC currently monitors energy|now(TM) and many other brands of on-site power equipment.

Voller Energy is to show a prototype VE10 integrated fuel cell system at the Fuel Cell Forum in Lucerne, Switzerland 30th June to 4th July. 

The new VE10 is an integrated fuel cell developed for portable electronic devices such as laptop computers or power tools. Using cartridges of hydrogen based fuel the VE10 is targeted to power a device such as a mobile phone for extended periods without having to recharge or replace the battery. 
Voller Energy is a leading manufacturer of portable fuel cell systems for the industrial, military and emergency services markets. The company designs battery rechargers and mobile generator products that provide clean and reliable remote power. 

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG) introduced today the GenSys(TM)5P, the Company's first liquid propane gas (LPG) fueled product.

The GenSys(TM)5P, a 5-kilowatt, grid-parallel fuel cell system, is being marketed to an audience that includes rural electric cooperatives, customers that have no utility-provided electricity supply, and federal and state government customers who require the remote fuel capability that LPG provides. The first two GenSys(TM)5P systems were shipped yesterday.

 "The field deployment of GenSys(TM)5P systems will allow us to provide a power generation alternative to serve customers in the remote, prime power customer segment where natural gas may not be available," said Mark Sperry,  Plug Power Chief Marketing Officer.  "The knowledge gained from these initial installations will be incorporated into our forward product designs and support strategies."

The development of the GenSys(TM)5P has been made possible, in part, through Plug Power's fleet experience of over 750,000 operating hours on its GenSys(TM)5CS natural gas systems and collaborative research and product development efforts with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).  Currently Plug Power and NYSERDA are jointly participating in a project targeted at the development of technologies that will be incorporated into next generation LPG systems.

"The successful development of the GenSys(TM)5P, utilizing LPG as a fuel, will open the door for clean, reliable and secure fuel cell power to reach rural electrical markets in New York State, throughout the United States and the world.  The introduction of the GenSys(TM)5P is an example of the success
of NYSERDA's partnership with New York State businesses, such as Plug Power, in delivering new products to the market.  This announcement is yet another example of how New York State is fast becoming an exporter of these innovative technologies," said Peter Smith, President of NYSERDA.

"The need for fuel cells utilizing LPG as a fuel is clear," said Sam Logan, President of LOGANEnergy Corporation and Plug Power customer.  "There are many rural applications both in the United States and abroad that do not have access to natural gas service.  The availability of LPG fuel cell systems
opens significant opportunities to end users in the evolving commercialization of fuel cell products."

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Researchers at Tufts University have discovered that it's possible to make hydrogen from fossil fuels using far less platinum or gold than current fuel processing technology has required. Their research shows that 90 percent of precious metals used today may be removed from the catalyst without affecting its ability to produce hydrogen.

This finding could have potential cost savings of millions of dollars in the materials required to commercialize the fuel cell technology.

The research will be published in the July 3 edition of "Science Express," the online version of the journal Science that provides rapid electronic publication of timely and important research papers. The article also will be published in Science later this summer.

A fuel cell consists of two electrodes sandwiched around an electrolyte. Hydrogen fed to the one electrode (anode) passes through the electrolyte in the form of protons and combines with oxygen on the other electrode (cathode) making water and producing heat. Electricity is generated in the process. A fuel cell will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied. To produce fuel-cell quality hydrogen, an important step involves the removal of any by-product carbon monoxide, which poisons the fuel cell anode catalyst.

"A lot of people have spent a lot of time studying the properties of gold and platinum nanoparticles that are used to catalyze the reaction of carbon monoxide with water to make hydrogen and carbon dioxide," said Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Tufts and the lead researcher of the project. "We find that for this reaction over a cerium oxide catalyst carrying the gold or platinum, metal nanoparticles are not important. Only a tiny amount of the precious metal in non metallic form is needed to create the active catalyst. Our finding will help researchers find a cost-effective way to produce clean energy from fuel cells in the near future"

She and her two colleagues, doctoral student Qi Fu and research professor Howard Saltsburg, were funded by a $300,000 three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, and have filed a provisional patent for their research. Their cutting-edge work in catalytic fuel processing to generate hydrogen for fuel cell applications is one of the major undertakings at Tufts' Science and Technology Center at the University's Medford campus.

The Tufts researchers' article is based on the "water-gas shift" reaction they use to make hydrogen from water and carbon monoxide over cerium oxide loaded with gold or platinum. Typically, a loading of 1-10 weight percent of gold or other precious metals is used to make an effective catalyst. But the Tufts team discovered that, after stripping the gold with a cyanide solution, the catalyst was just as active with a slight amount of the gold remaining – one-tenth the normal amount used.

According to Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, "This finding is significant because it shows that metallic nanoparticles are mere 'spectator species' for some reactions, such as the water-gas shift. The phenomenon may be more general, since we show that it also holds for platinum and may also hold true for other metals and metal oxide supports, such as titanium and iron oxide."

She adds, "It opens the way for new catalyst designs so more hydrogen can be produced with less precious metal. This can pave the way for cost-effective clean energy production from fuel cells in the near future."

Fuel cells currently are being used on a trial basis in some buses, cars and even hotels, but they're expensive. It may take up to 10 years until the technology is used in transportation and by the general population. (Since the 1960s, one type of fuel cell has powered NASA's spacecrafts.)

"We've raised the issue of now having to look back and see if less precious metal may be used in other similar applications," said Saltsburg. There's much more to be done, and that's what makes the research exciting." 

Hoku Scientific, Inc., announced that it has formed a joint development relationship with SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. The focus of the development effort is a new membrane electrode assembly technology for use in SANYO's Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The membrane electrode assembly will incorporate SANYO electrode technology and the Hoku Membrane, a Hoku Scientific product.

The joint development relationship includes the financial, service and technical contributions of both companies, totaling more than $6 million. Joint development work is planned for the next 18 months. A successful outcome would likely serve as the basis for a long-term customer-supplier relationship between the two companies.

Sulzer Hexis Ltd and the German company G. Kromschröder AG have signed an agreement for the development and supply of a safety module and burner controller for the near-series fuel cell system of Sulzer Hexis. Kromschröder is a leading manufacturer worldwide in the fields of safety, measurement and control of gases. The market launch for the next generation of fuel cell systems from Sulzer Hexis is planned for the end of 2004/beginning of 2005

German researchers are generating ten times more electricity than before from bacteria.

Uwe Schröder and colleagues at Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald have created a prototype microbial fuel cell that captures the energy produced by Escherichia coli as it feeds on sugar1. Making up to 150 milliamps, the bacterial battery can drive a medical ventilator, for example.

Many microorganisms convert sugars and other carbohydrates to alcohols, acids and carbon dioxide. When no air is present, this fermentation process can also produce hydrogen - the fuel in most fuel cells, such as those being developed for 'green' electric vehicles. The energy released by the reaction of the gas with oxygen generates electricity.

Schröder and his colleagues think that their E. coli basically act as a hydrogen source. But the battery's output seems to be higher than it would be if hydrogen alone were responsible. So the researchers also suspect that the bacteria are feeding electrons directly onto the negative electrode, called the anode.

The design of the anode is central to new generator's success. Previous microbial fuel cells were feeble because fermentation products stick to their metal electrodes, making them inefficient.

The German group coats a platinum anode with a conducting polymer, called polyaniline, which slows down its contamination. Voltage pulses every 20 minutes or so clean this sheath, meaning that a cell can keep running for hours. And the coating may help the bacteria to donate electrons directly to the anode.

Could such a set-up help real brewing to generate electricity - resulting, perhaps, in 'green' beer? The process does indeed work with yeast instead of E. coli, though sadly not as well.

Scientists at the American Department of Energy are in the process of developing a new palladium sensor that can detect leaks of the highly explosive gas hydrogen.

With hydrogen tipped to become increasingly widespread in everyday use through the rise in fuel cells a cheap, reliable sensor is deemed essential to ensuring the safety of the technology, particularly in the automotive industry.

At the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories researchers have already developed one sensor for commercial use that has been bought by H2scan, which detects hydrogen in the air at concentrations as low as 30 parts per million.

However, Steve Huenemeier, president of H2Scan, says the company's sensor 'would have to be made much smaller' for any automotive application and also cheaper.

To that end scientists at the Energy Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in conjunction with DuPont, have designed a method for producing low-cost palladium sensors.

Sensors are made using a screen-printing device that applies a palladium-doped paste to an aluminium oxide substrate.

'You can cut the sensors out of a large sheet, much as a cookie cutter cuts shapes out of one large sheet of dough,' explained Tim McIntyre, a research physicist in the Sensor and Instrument Research Group at Oak Ridge.

Plans elsewhere in the country are investigating the possibility of using palladium nanowires to detect hydrogen, or even tainting the gas itself with an unmistakable stench.

Patrick Flynn and Michael Sprague, graduate students at Penn State, believe an odorant they have developed might even be benign enough to pass through hydrogen fuel cells, and across hydrogen sensors, without damaging the catalysts in either one.

At present DaimlerChrysler's F-Cell, a fuel-cell powered Mercedes-Benz sedan, has only one hydrogen sensor, which is located inside the passenger compartment.