My final day here started with meeting two more of the Hydrogen Ambassadors teams. I have really been impressed with all of these teams – which is the main reason why I didn’t vote on an overall winner – and I really hope that their ideas don’t end here at the Fair. This would be a real shame and waste of some innovative concepts. I started chatting with the H2Deep team from the University of Waterloo (Canada), whom I am guessing are keen divers and James Bond fans! I say this as they have redesigned and modified an underwater unit which the driver holds on to and it pulls them through the water, saving their energy and their oxygen (when you are relaxed apparently you use less oxygen). This unit now incorporates a specialised Hydrogenics stack and balance of plant, which they designed, with compressed gas tanks underneath the unit. There are many advantages to using this unit, including a diver familiarity with using and working with compressed gas. (The James Bond reference by the way is to these machines having been used in an old Bond film).

Next was the winner next to them. Stefan Osswald has designed a long distance endurance motorbike from the ground up using the benefits that the fuel cell stack offers to make a machine that is certainly striking. A scale mock-up of the bike is on show on the stand and talking to Stefan you really get the sense that this is not just a design but a product he wants to take forward. I asked if he was looking for anything specific from the fair and the answer loud and clear was a manufacturing partner for the bike. So if anyone reading this is getting involved in the building of a fuel cell motorbike then go and see Stefan (H77 / 5) before the Fair closes.

Some exhibitors here are not that easy to pin down to chat to and it wasn’t until today that I caught up with the guys from Medis for a long overdue talk on their powerpack. This unit, which weighs only 150 grammes, is due to become available to certain stores in the US at the end of this year. The unit combines a fuel cell, a DC to DC converter and a fuel source and will power up any handheld device (mobile, PDA, blackberry etc). Medis claim to have a manufacturing facility already up and running in Israel (the home of the founder) and is building another in Ireland, due for completion next year. This first generation unit will cost US$25 and is designed also to be recycled. I certainly plan for some of our team to test these units the next time we go to the USA and run out of power for our mobile phones!

Last year the Proton Motor stand was gaining a lot of attention this year with their fuel cell forklift. This year is no different, in terms of attention, but what is different is the expansion of plans to use their fuel cell power units. Proton Motor prides itself on being open to new ideas of how their units can be used and two projects in the pipeline are working with Rittal on > 5 kW UPS systems, and, if they can get the funding, using the units in a fuel cell powered tourist boat as part of the HyCity project in Hamburg. The forklifts are still there and they continue to work with the company Still on building routes into this market. Wonder what I will see next year on their stand.

Well my time at the Fair is over and Mike is arriving tonight, so until next year I bow here. Auf wiedersehen.