Those were just a couple of the ideas offered Wednesday at the last day of FuelCellSouth2006.

The challenge, a project of the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative, aims to help make Columbia a world leader in fuel cells and other alternative energy applications.

The input session brought together fuel cell vendors and service providers with local business people, government officials and university researchers for a session on how the technology can be used.

Jason Hanlin, with the Center for Transportation and the Environment, said Columbia is a good candidate for a hydrogen-powered, fuel-cell bus demonstration project.

The center is a nonprofit that does advanced transportation demonstrations and projects.

The center has funds available for the projects. The biggest opportunity is the National Fuel Cell Bus Program, Hanlin said. The program provides $49 million to facilitate the development of fuel cell buses.

“This is a great opportunity for Columbia,” Hanlin said. “It is an opportunity that is right here and right now.”

Practically all that is required to have Columbia as a demonstration site is a commitment to maintain and operate the buses, Hanlin said.

A bus would provide great visibility for fuel cell technology, but the projects don’t have to be big, at least physically.

Rex Luzader of Millennium Cell, a New Jersey-based hydrogen battery technology company, challenged the audience to think small and imagine a fuel cell in every laptop computer at USC.

Hydrogen batteries can be used to power laptops, cell phones, DVD players and other hand-held devices, Luzader said.

“Hydrogen does not have to be stored, delivered and used as a gas,” Luzader said. His company’s technology is based on storing hydrogen and delivering it in a different way.

No matter what kinds of projects Columbia decides to undertake, some of them should be fun, said Eileen Schmura of Concurrent Technologies Corp., a company that has worked on federal fuel cell demonstration projects.

“You want to draw attention,” Schmura said. “Take the fuel cell and power something that people can touch.”

But equally important is to look beyond fuel cell demonstration projects and have a long-term vision, she said. Projects generally have a fixed life span.

USC, the city of Columbia, EngenuitySC and the S.C. Research Authority are partners in the challenge.

“In Columbia, we are united in the effort to grow the fuel cell industry,” Mayor Bob Coble told the audience.

The project is being managed by EngenuitySC and will be implemented by the research authority, which is funding awards for the program.

Material gathered at Wednesday’s session — as well as information gathered in meetings with vendors Monday and Tuesday nights — will be used to create a request for proposals that should go out in June, said Neil McLean, EngenuitySC’s executive director.

Announcement of the awards are expected to be made at the Engenuity06 annual meeting in September.

“We did a lot of business over the last three days and got a lot of ideas,” McLean said.

The most important advice on launching the challenge might have come from Keith Spitznagel with LoganEnergy, the Roswell, Ga.-based fuel cell service company.

“Fuel cells are not a spectator sport. You say you want to do fuel cells, then you better do fuel cells,” Sptiznagel said.

“The money will come back to you, the jobs will come, the students will follow. But they are not going to come here if everybody is sitting around talking about fuel cells. They want to see them, they want to kick ’em, they want to touch ’em.” Spitznagel said.