ARGONNE, Ill.--The US Fuel Cell Council (USFCC), in partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE), will kick off a two-day event on Thursday, September 20th, designed to showcase fuel cell products to America's national labs.

The event, part of the ongoing USFCC/DOE Fuel Cell Early Markets Activity, will match approximately fifteen fuel cell manufacturers from across the country with national lab facility managers.

The facility managers will be briefed on fuel cell products, their capabilities and recent field experience. Commercially available fuel cell products and emerging technologies for micro, portable, stationary, material handling, and transportation applications will be discussed.

"Early adopters of fuel cell technologies have lowered their energy costs, reduced emissions and benefited from fuel cell reliability," declared Robert Rose, Executive Director of the USFCC. "Fuel cells are cost-effective on a life-cycle basis in some markets when compared to incumbent technologies. Taking into account the critical role that our national laboratories play, we feel that fuel cells can help these institutions meet their critical power needs."

Early this year, the USFCC released the first-ever list of 54 fuel cell products available for commercial sale in the U.S. Taken together, these products represent a significant milestone in the commercialization of these emerging technologies.

The two-day meeting at Argonne National Laboratory lays the groundwork for a program described in sections 782 and 783 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. These sections authorize the Department of Energy to help federal and state agencies become early adopters of fuel cell technologies and supporting infrastructure.

A fuel cell harnesses the energy of a fuel electrochemically, without combustion in a reaction that is clean, quiet, safe and efficient.

With more than 100 members, the US Fuel Cell Council is the leading voice of the fuel cell industry. For more information, visit http://www.usfcc.com.