"We are witnessing the global emergence of a 'hydrogen-based' fuel economy. A move toward hydrogen is motivated by the need to reduce environmental pollution associated with combustion of fossil fuels and diminishing petroleum reserves in the United States," says Dr. Bruce Logan, director of the H2E Center at Penn State and the Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering.

"New methods of producing energy must be found, and hydrogen can be an important component of a new, sustainable energy infrastructure," he adds. "Hydrogen energy research has sprung to the forefront at Penn State University, where more than a hundred researchers are fully involved in developing new hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cell technologies."

At Hydrogen Day, more than 40 poster presentations on current research are expected from academic and industry researchers.

Panel speakers from Penn State and their topics are: Logan, direct hydrogen and electricity production from biomass using bacteria; Craig Grimes, professor of electrical engineering, on solar power and hydrogen; Chunshan Song, professor of fuel science on clean hydrogen from fuels: transition approaches; and Chao-Yang Wang, professor of material science and mechanical engineering, on improving fuel cell technologies.

Other speakers scheduled are: JoAnn Milliken, U.S. Department of Energy; Rob Friedland, senior vice president, Proton Energy; and Koudai Yoshizawa, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Luncheon keynote speakers will be: Ed Kiczek, product development manager, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.; Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology; and Hideyuki Tamura of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. The Dinner speaker is Dan Desmond, Deputy Secretary, Office of Energy & Technology Deployment, Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

The program is free for Penn State faculty, staff and students. For industry participants, the registration fee is $75 until Oct. 24 and $125 for registration after Oct. 24. Directions for registering are at http://www.mri.psu.edu/conferences/h2e