A Toledo company that received $45,000 two years ago from the Ohio Department of Development to plan and develop the idea has dropped the project.
  
The company, AltFuel Solutions, did not receive any more state money after the initial grant because its subsequent proposals were poorly written, said Bill Manz, commercial industrial program manager of the development department's Office of Energy Efficiency.

"The grant they wrote, compared to others, was weak," Manz said. "They were very, very poorly prepared proposals. We believe the project was feasible and could have worked, but the grant proposal was not strong enough."

AltFuel President Jim Davis disagreed.

"It was pretty clear and precise. We felt they were great writings and to the point," Davis said. "But it didn't come to fruition. I decided I was beating my head against the wall."

Davis said he and his father-in-law lost more than $250,000 pursuing the idea. They used the state grant to pay for planning, traveling and printing promotional material for their proposal.

Two years ago, Davis proposed building the state's first fueling station near the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Three others were to follow in Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati. The project was estimated at $6.8 million and the stations were to open this year.

The stations were to serve as demonstration and learning centers to help the public understand the upcoming changes in the move from a gasoline-powered vehicle to one powered by a fuel cell that runs on hydrogen, which emits no dirty exhaust.

AltFuel did not have to pay back the grant, Manz said. As a condition of the grant, the state did not require that AltFuel successfully land additional funds.

AltFuel Solutions applied for $2.82 million in state funding in 2002 in five separate proposals, said Mike Hogan, Department of Development spokesman. Out of a possible 100 points applied to grant proposals, the one submitted by AltFuel scored between 24.3 and 41.7. Out of 168 applicants for funding, the state selected 12 others to receive part of $9.25 million set aside in the state's Technology Action Fund grant.

A year later, Hogan said AltFuel applied again for state money, this time for $458,776. Out of a possible 100 points, AltFuel received a 37.3 score. That year, the state selected 14 of the 156 applicants to receive a part of the more than $13 million available.

Companies that received state money scored above 71, Hogan said. An independent reviewer scored the proposals.

Other states, such as California and Illinois, are proceeding with hydrogen fueling stations.

Next month, the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, a nonprofit organization of public and private groups in Ohio, will release a report that outlines the future direction of fuel cell investment in Ohio for the next two to five years.