FuelCellsWorks

LOS ANGELES–Vision Industries Corp. (OTCBB: VIIC), producers of the zero emission plug-in electric/hydrogen fuel cell Tyrano™ truck, announced today that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Los Angeles Freightliner and Velocity Vehicle Group. Los Angeles Freightliner is to be an authorized dealer of the Tyrano™ truck within the territory described as Southern California. Los Angeles Freightliner also agrees to administer all product warranties, services and repairs programs established by Vision.

Brad Fauvre, President of Los Angeles Freightliner stated, “We would like to commend Vision on its hydrogen hybrid truck and their commitment to the use of the cleanest available alternative fuel trucks to provide port drayage services. We understand the need for cleaner trucks to improve air quality and support any and all initiatives that help to achieve that goal, particularly in Southern California, which has some of the worst air quality in the nation. We look forward to providing Vision’s zero emission trucks to the Southern California market.”

Martin Schuermann, President & CEO of Vision stated, “The LA Freightliner team has significant experience in the deployment of new heavy-duty OEM alternative fuel trucks. The team was responsible for the nation’s largest single deployment of natural gas trucks with the implementation of the California Cartage LNG truck project in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Given the exemplary record of success in implementing similar projects, as well as the direct approach of working with large fleet operators that are ready to immediately purchase and deploy zero emission plug-in electric/hydrogen fuel cell powered trucks in their operations, LA Freightliner and Vision will make an extremely strong team in competing for thousands of potential alternative fuel truck orders in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.”

About Vision Industries Corp.

Vision is a provider of hydrogen fuel cell/plug-in electric powered vehicles and turnkey hydrogen fueling systems. Vision’s proprietary plug-in electric/ hydrogen fuel cell drive system combines the superior acceleration of a battery powered electric vehicle with the extended range provided by a hydrogen fuel cell. The Vision vehicles use plug-in electricity for the first portion of their journeys with the hydrogen fuel cell providing them with extended range. Vision uses major manufacturers as partners or sub contractors to produce its vehicles. This business approach avoids massive outlays of startup capital. Many regional, state and federal alternative energy programs in the form of grants, tax credits and loans exist or are planned for these types of projects. For more information on Vision Industries Corp., please visit www.visionindustriescorp.com

Commercial potential and technology recognised
by Global Cleantech 100 listing

ACAL Energy, the leading developer of innovative fuel cell technology, has been named in the ‘Global Cleantech 100’, published by Guardian News and Media and the Cleantech Group. This first ever Global Cleantech listing unveils the most promising clean technology companies on the planet: those which offer the potential for superior performance at lower costs while reducing negative ecological impact. One of only thirteen UK companies listed, ACAL Energy also headed the Guardian’s lead paragraph on UK innovation.

The panel chose companies that are currently regarded as having the potential and likelihood to achieve high growth and high market impact. Their thoughts were then combined with insights from the Cleantech Network™, the de facto industry association of international clean technology investors, entrepreneurs, large corporations and other industry insiders. Some 3,500 companies were considered for inclusion in the list.

“The first ever Global Cleantech 100 shines a spotlight on which companies and which technology areas the global innovation community is currently most excited about, from a commercial standpoint”, said Richard Youngman, Managing Partner at Cleantech Group.
“We are delighted and honored to be recognised as one of the most significant cleantech companies globally”, said Dr S B Cha, CEO of Acal Energy. “Our commercial potential has clearly been recognised as well as our ground-breaking Flowcath® technology.”

The Global Cleantech 100 list is supported by the Carbon Trust, and represents the collective opinion of hundreds of leading experts from cleantech innovation and venture capital companies in Europe, North America, Middle East, India and China, combined with the specific input of an expert panel.

Airbus has completed the latest stage in its civil aerospace fuel-cell programme by harnessing the by-products of water and heat for use within existing flight systems.

Claus Hoffjan, manager of Fuel Cell Development at Airbus, has been heading the research and development of a system which can generate up to 20KW of electrical power. The system, first flight tested in February 2008 to provide energy for backup hydraulic and electric power systems on an A320, works in a similar way to conventional fuel cells by combining hydrogen with oxygen in a cold- combustion process.

The innovation uses a separate condenser to collect the water generated as a result of the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. A further by-product, hot air, is collected in a humidifier and harnessed to heat the interior of the cabin. The process removes the need for an additional auxiliary power unit (APU), a fuel-tank inerting system, a ram air turbine or a water-storage system, which can claim up to 2.2 tonnes of weight on a typical A380.

Hoffjan said this approach will result in significant weight reductions and improve overall energy consumption: ‘In an aircraft, you have a separate system for everything… but we can combine this into one system using the same amount of energy,’ he said.

Over the past few years, companies such as Airbus and Boeing have increased their research activity in fuel-cell systems. While their application for commercial aircraft propulsion is currently unfeasible due to their low energy output, their use as auxiliary power units (APUs) could help the aviation industry reduce its CO₂ and NOx emissions.

Most research activity has centred around the use of fuel cells to power internal systems such as lights, air conditioning and cabin pressure. However, Airbus claims that it is the only company with an advanced model of a fuel cell able to integrate systems in this way.

To mark the development of the technology, Hoffjan and his team entered the EADS Hall of Fame in Bordeaux earlier this month after being presented with the ‘Great Inventors’ award for their work.

‘The next step is to bring this into an aircraft and we plan to begin flight tests in 2012′, said Hoffjan. ‘However, this is something we can also use in the automotive industry, which relies heavily on high-energy engines running on petrol. In the future, we won’t have enough oil to meet demand so we need to use something else and I believe if we find a good way of sourcing hydrogen, this will be the way forward.’

As well as sourcing hydrogen, Hoffjan believes a further obstacle to the use of fuel cells is availability and high cost. Currently, most fuel cells are assembled by hand, however, Airbus said that it plans to use an automated process that could bring the price down enough to undertake wide-scale production.

Ellie Zolfagharifard

EO-210-XLE are fully integrated and include all of the necessary sub-systems to provide reliable and efficient “turn-key” UAV propulsion power.

Montreal, Canada– EnergyOr Technologies Inc., a leading developer of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems, recently unveiled its latest generation of advanced fuel cell system technology for long endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications.

The EPOD EO-210-LE and EO-210-XLE are lightweight, rugged UAV propulsion systems designed specifically for extended flight endurance under the most demanding weather conditions. Their performance has been optimized over the last four years based on extensive flight testing in several different UAV platforms, including the EO-360-UAV Demonstrator designed and built by EnergyOr. The EO-210-LE and EO-210-XLE are fully integrated and include all of the necessary sub-systems to provide reliable and efficient “turn-key” UAV propulsion power.

These hybrid UAV power systems were designed to take full advantage of fuel cells for their high energy density and LiPo batteries to provide short bursts of power during take-off, climb and severe weather conditions. The outcome is that UAVs powered by EnergyOr’s fuel cell systems have a flight endurance that is two to three times longer than those powered by the best rechargeable batteries (LiPo).

The EO-210-LE and EO-210-XLE offer a proprietary power management system which includes in-flight battery charging to ensure high power levels are always available, a modular design for optimal UAV integration, low heat and noise signature, exceptional system efficiency, and a system level energy density of over 450 Wh/kg.

EnergyOr has achieved numerous successful flights with operational UAVs from two leading Israeli UAV manufacturers where 5 hours flight endurance was attained using the EO-210-LE. The EO-210-XLE provides 8 to 10 hour flights for similar sized UAVs.

About EnergyOr
EnergyOr Technologies, incorporated in 2002, was the first and only company to fly a fuel cell powered UAV in Canada (May 2007), and in December 2007, performed the first fuel cell flights ever in Israel. EnergyOr provides total system solutions which include hydrogen delivery systems, portable hydrogen filling stations and system integration services.

EnergyOr has also developed an advanced fuel cell Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) to replace the gasoline generator for UAV ground control stations and other electrical needs (computers, mobile phones, etc.).

EnergyOr recently displayed its fuel cell technology at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Inter-national (AUVSI) Exposition in Washington, D.C.

Contact Information:
Michel Bitton, President and CEO,
EnergyOr Technologies Inc.
Montréal, Québec, Canada H2G 1X7
(514) 744-6122
mb@energyor.com
www.energyor.com

Proton Power (AIM: PPS), a designer, developer and producer of fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems, announced that it has signed a Partnership and Exclusivity Agreement with L-3 Communications Combat Propulsion Systems (L-3 CPS). Under this agreement, L-3 CPS will market and sell Proton Power’s Fuel Cell Power Systems for use in propulsion systems, marine and Universal Power Supply (UPS) applications to the North American military and civilian applications market.

The PEM Fuel Cell runs on pure Hydrogen and is one of the most efficient methods of converting Hydrogen into electrical energy with an efficiency rating of close to 50%. Combined with thermal energy conversion for use in UPS applications, efficiencies reach over 90%. The combination and integration of this technology in modern propulsion systems offers an emission free and carbon neutral alternative to conventional international combustion engines plus with the added bonus that the systems are ultra quiet, and has a very low heat signature. The only by-product of this process is pure water.

Michael Soimar, President, L-3 CPS said, “Proton’s alternative energy fuel cell propulsion systems provide an environment-friendly method to our customers’ transportation and power products requirements.”

Thomas Melczer, CEO of Proton, commented:” We are delighted about the partnership with L-3 CPS. North America is a lead market for Fuel Cell Technology. Together with L-3 CPS, we plan to play a leading role in that market.”

Shanghai,  China’s largest automaker SAIC Motor Corp is planning to provide an unnamed amount of “Shanghai” brand fuel cell cars for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

A company executive taking charge of SAIC’s new energy vehicle division said the move marks the renaissance of an old Chinese brand and showcases SAIC’s progress in developing alternative fuel vehicles