FuelCellsWorks

SEATTLE–Mantra Venture Group Ltd. (’Mantra’, OTCBB: MVTG, FSE: 5MV) is pleased to announce that it signed a worldwide exclusive licensing agreement for a Mixed Reactant Fuel Cell (MRFC) technology on September 2nd, 2009. Unlike typical fuel cells that require a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) to separate the fuel from the oxidant within the cell, MRFC is based on an innovative technology that mixes the fuel with the oxidant and eliminates the need for the expensive yet fragile membrane. As a result, Mantra anticipates a simplified and much more cost effective manufacturing process upon commercialization.

MRFC was designed by Professor Emeritus Colin Oloman in the Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Under the direction of Prof. Oloman, Mantra’s technical staff is currently undertaking feasibility studies on the MRFC technology – using formate as the fuel. This represents a significant opportunity for Mantra, as formate is one of the key products of ERC – the company’s carbon recycling technology.

John Russell, Vice President of Technical Evaluation, noted: “While fuel cells have evolved and grown more fuel efficient and powerful over the last 10 years, they are still very much struggling to compete with conventional batteries. The MRFC technology moves outside the standard architecture, eliminating the complexity of conventional fuel cells and thus promising improved economic performance. This economic advancement may be enough for fuel cells to reach widespread adoption.”

Mantra’s goal in signing this agreement is to carry the technology from its present development stages through to commercialization and to establish sub-licensing agreements thereafter. MRFC is currently in the worldwide patent application process.

Stay up to date with Mantra on Twitter: twitter.com/mantraenergy

About Mixed Reactant Fuel Cell (MRFC)

MRFC is a fuel cell with an unconventional architecture that eliminates the need for some operating features and components (such as the PEM) that are typically required in today’s fuel cells. This simplification is expected to generate a significant economic advantage for the MRFC design. MRFC is currently in the critical stages of the patent application process, limiting the amount of technical information and specifications that can be released at this time. More information on the technology will be released shortly.

About Mantra Venture Group Ltd.

Mantra, through its group of sustainable energy, carbon reduction and consumer product subsidiaries, is active in the green technology marketplace with an innovative, multi-faceted approach focused on profitability through sustainability. By aggressively seeking out new technologies and innovating solutions for a cleaner earth for everyone, Mantra intends to provide a highly profitable and, more importantly, socially and environmentally responsible investment for its shareholders.

Mantra is a public company quoted on the OTC BB under the symbol MVTG and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol EDV 5MV.

• Leading industrial companies agree upon a built-up plan for a nationwide infrastructure
• Significant expansion of hydrogen fuelling stations network by the end of 2011
• Important milestone on the way to emission-free mobility
• Leading vehicle manufacturers pursue the development and commercialisation of electric vehicles with fuel cell. Commercialisation with several hundred thousand units anticipated from 2015 onwards

Notes to editors

1. You can find out more about the competition here:
http://www.innovateuk.org/deliveringinnovation/forthcomingcompetitions.ashx
2. Technology Strategy Board was set up in 2007 as a business led non-departmental public body to play a cross-Government leadership role in delivering a national technology strategy and advising on polices which relate to technology innovation and knowledge transfer. Technology Strategy Board is sponsored by BIS.
Technology Strategy Board  operates across sectors of the UK economy, including energy, to stimulate innovation in those areas which offer the greatest scope for boosting UK growth and productivity.  Technology Strategy Board’s total value of low carbon energy projects is around £127m, including contributions from other funders.

3. The target markets that the programme aims to support are transport and stationary power generation.

The programme could therefore support projects to:

- Facilitate the demonstration of a fleet of fuel cell and hydrogen vehicles.
- Facilitate the demonstration of residential micro CHP and distributed power generation products based on fuel cells and hydrogen technologies.
- Facilitate the demonstration of production of hydrogen from non-carbon sources and its use as an energy carrier.
- Facilitate the development of scalable processes and equipment for the mass manufacture and testing of fuel cells and fuel cells modules.
- Enable in line product testing and testing for performances and reliability under realistic operating conditions.

VANCOUVER– Powertech, BC Hydro’s subsidiary specializing in clean energy solutions, announced today that it was selected by Shell Hydrogen, LLC to provide a new hydrogen-fuelling station at its gasoline retail station in Newport Beach, California.

The station will soon provide California drivers of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with more flexibility as it expands the network of available hydrogen fuelling stations. It will be the first high pressure (700 bar) public-use hydrogen fuelling system in California, and the first station in the world capable of fuelling four hydrogen fuel cell vehicles simultaneously.

“Powertech’s leadership in hydrogen station design is based on our distinct competitive advantage: technical expertise combined with state of the art hydrogen fuelling technology” said Eamonn Percy, President and Chief Operating Officer, Powertech. “This is a tremendous opportunity to partner with Shell to further advance both hydrogen fuelling technology and infrastructure.”

“We are delighted to collaborate with an industry leader in clean transportation such as Powertech on this project,” said Duncan Macleod, Shell Vice President of Hydrogen. “This is an important step as we continue to build hydrogen fueling infrastructure, in line with the automakers’ plans to develop hydrogen vehicles.”

Powertech has played a key role in the development of hydrogen delivery infrastructure in North America. The company designed and built the world’s first 700 bar fast fill hydrogen fuelling station in 2002, currently situated at Powertech’s facility in British Columbia.

Shell was one of four organizations to receive a US$1.7 million US grant from the California Air Resources Board for the development of four new fuelling stations. The new stations will double the amount of hydrogen available to the public in California.

For more information visit http://powertechlabs.com or http://bchydro.com/news/press_centre.html

About Powertech

Powertech, BC Hydro’s subsidiary that specializes in clean energy consulting, testing, and power solutions, has been serving electrical, oil and gas companies, automotive and electrical equipment manufacturers since 1989 by meeting the complex and changing needs of our customers around the world.

About BC Hydro

A crown corporation, BC Hydro reports to the B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. It is the third largest electric utility in Canada and serves customers in an area containing over 94% of British Columbia’s population.

Stuttgart, Germany – Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, said Thursday he aimed to link up with Toyota of Japan to develop fuel-cell engines , but there had been no talks yet.

His company, Daimler, has been hit hard by a world slump in sales of its premium cars. Toyota is the world’s most powerful car company.

‘It’s definitely possible that we could cooperate with Toyota in particular areas if it benefits both companies,’ he told a German cars magazine, Auto’s Motor und Sport. ‘But we are not in any concrete negotiations.’

Zetsche also said Daimler was considering linking up with another manufacturer to make the next generation of its Smart micro-car, but did not respond when asked if that partner might be Renault.

He told the magazine that Daimler’s cooperation with its German rival BMW in purchasing was closer than had been publicly disclosed.

‘However we also have to maintain a balance between the dangers to our strong brands and the benefits in terms of costs,’ he said.

Earlier Wednesday, a German daily, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, quoted him saying one option on the two firms’ agenda was to build a joint gearbox factory somewhere in North America.

He added that he hoped that Abu Dhabi, a principal investor in Daimler through its sovereign wealth fund, was also voicing interest in the German company providing engines to be used in the planned city of Masdar.

Abu Dhabi is to build the city as a centre of low-emissions, renewable energy. Zetsche said lightweight vehicle bodies and alternative engines could be put into use there.

SymPowerco Corporation (PINKSHEETS: SYMW) CEO John Davenport announced today that the company’s Flowing Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Project (FEDMFC) has officially begun at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. The Project Team has held its first meeting and has developed and assigned the initial objectives and tasks for the team members, all of whom work within Carleton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

In addition to refurbishing the SymPowerco 5 Watt FEDMFC prototype and bringing it to operational status, initial tasks for the team include the immediate development of mathematical models that will be used for operational simulations and the assessment of virtual and actual FEDMFC data. The team will also conduct expanded research of related DMFC literature. The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has also decided to expand the team to include more graduate students. The FEDMFC project is being funded through a recently announced grant from Ontario Centres of Excellence.

SymPowerco Corporation develops advanced fuel cell and power delivery systems for the rapidly growing personal transportation and portable power system markets that are being created by today’s energy and environmental challenges.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A fast-growing Silicon Valley start-up firm is aiming to put its methanol-based fuel cells in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars.

Oorja Protonics, which sells its fuel cells to Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), is working to have a product that can be used as a range-extender in pure electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, Chief Executive Sanjiv Malhotra said in an interview on Friday.

“We would have something in 18 to 24 months,” Malhotra said, adding that the company is working “very aggressively” on such a range-extending fuel cell.

Small and large automakers, including Toyota Motor Co (7203.T), Nissan and Ford Motor Co (F.N), are racing to launch electric vehicle vehicles and plug-in hybrid versions in the United States.

Most of these vehicles that are in development pipeline use a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and include a range-extender, mostly a gasoline engine, to get the vehicle to travel further on electric power.

Fuel cells are not a new concept in the automotive world. Most major automakers have spent billions of dollars in researching a hydrogen-powered fuel cell for vehicles, tempted by the idea of a car that uses no gasoline and emits only water vapor. That research is now mostly on the back burner, given the expense, transportation issues and volatility of hydrogen gas.

Malhotra said the initial difficulty he faced when he started the company in 2005 was to find an appropriate fuel for the fuel cell. He settled on methanol as it was cheap and easily available.

“Fuel cells are synonymous with hydrogen” he said. ” The biggest challenge I was looking to solve was the hydrogen problem.”

Methanol is an alternative fuel that is derived from various sources including wood, grass, landfills, natural gas and coal. It’s a common antifreeze used in vehicle windshield fuel.

“There is a distribution infrastructure in place for methanol,” Malhotra said.

Oorja’s fuel cells, which cost about $16,500, are currently used by its customers to power fork lifts.

Nissan decided to adopt Oorja’s methanol fuel cells after an 18-month trial period in its Smyrna, Tenn. plant.

Fuel cells generate electricity by converting the chemical energy stored in a fuel into electrical and thermal energy.

Nissan uses Oorja’s fuel cells to power its “tugs” or equipment that transports components and other materials inside a plant.

Oorja was one of the first green technology investments of leading venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The company, which came out of stealth mode last year, has also raised money from DAG Ventures.

Malhotra said the Oorja will soon be announcing more product contracts and is looking to ramp up its manufacturing capacity in an effort to sell fuel cells in the “low thousand” volume range next year.

The company has so far sold “few hundreds” of fuel cells, he added.

Oorja plans to double its manufacturing space and is in the process of opening sales and service locations around the country.

“We have grown at an exponential pace,” Malhotra said, adding that the company is on track to be profitable in the “next few months.”

Oorja is also looking to sell its fuel cells to cool big trucks when the engine is idled.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing Bernard Orr)

Energy Secretary Steven Chu will no longer seek to kill Energy Department research and development of hydrogen-powered cars, a bid Congress has rebuffed, and instead will work with lawmakers to ensure the money is “invested wisely,” he said today.

The fiscal 2010 spending bills approved in the House and Senate would continue funding for the programs. “Given the reality of that, I think it would be foolish if I next year said, ‘No, I’m still going to insist.’ They are going to stick it back again,” Chu told the subscription service E&E News.

He spoke after addressing students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. “We will do the best we can to make sure the funds are invested wisely,” Chu said.

DOE’s fiscal 2010 budget request chopped $100 million of funding from hydrogen research and steered it away from vehicles. Chu, in rolling out the proposal, said vehicles face a number of barriers around storage, infrastructure and other issues. The plan would continue support for stationary fuel-cell applications.

“We asked ourselves, ‘Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?’ The answer, we felt, was ‘no,’” Chu said in May, and instead emphasized other technologies to curb oil use like biofuels and electric vehicles.

But Chu today said there is also common ground with the lawmakers. “I still think — in fact, many of the people who restored the funding agree with me — that the first applications will be in stationary fuel cells,” he said, according to E&E News.

“So we will do that, but then, if you want to have it [hydrogen] in automobiles, there is a hydrogen storage problem, there is a hydrogen production problem, as well as a fuel cell problem,” he added.

“Fuel cells is actually the more mature, and so we will try to do our best to say, ‘OK, if the goal is to try and get them into vehicles, let’s design a program to actually try and do that as best we can,’ rather than saying, ‘I disagree with them.’”

Posted by;Scott Doggett

 * POSCO Power orders 30.8 MW
 * Sonoma County orders 1.4 MW power plant
 * Product cost-to-revenue ratio improves to 1.40 from 1.68 a year ago
 * Cost-reduced DFC products enter production in July
 * Company raises $24.2 million in registered direct offering

DANBURY, Conn., Sept. 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency, ultra-clean power plants using renewable biogas and other fuels for commercial, industrial, utility and government customers, today reported results and accomplishments for its third fiscal quarter and nine months ended July 31, 2009.

Financial Results

FuelCell Energy reported revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 of $23.0 million compared to $27.9 million in the same period a year ago. Product sales and revenues were $18.7 million compared to $23.2 million in the third quarter of 2008. Lower product revenues reflect delayed activity in the U.S. due to difficult credit markets and delays in capital spending. Research and development contract revenue was $4.3 million compared to $4.7 million in 2008.

The Company’s product backlog, including long-term service agreements, as of July 31, 2009 was $104.8 million compared to the $100.7 million reported as of July 31, 2008. Research and development contract backlog totaled $15.3 million compared to $5.5 million as of July 31, 2008.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2009, net loss to common shareholders was $15.7 million or $0.21 per basic and diluted loss per share compared to a net loss to common shareholders of $26.8 million or $0.39 per basic and diluted share in the same period of the previous year. The product cost-to-revenue ratio was 1.40 in the third quarter of 2009, which compares favorably with 1.68 in the same period a year ago. The contribution from the cost-reduced modules resulted in higher product margins compared to last year and mitigating this benefit in the quarter were higher costs related to commissioning multi-megawatt power plants in South Korea.

Total cash and investments totaled $53.0 million as of July 31, 2009. During the third quarter, FuelCell Energy sold 6.7 million shares of its common stock at $3.59 per share in a registered direct offering raising approximately $22.5 million of cash. Excluding the equity offering, net cash use for the third quarter was $11.9 million, which included capital spending of approximately $0.2 million. Depreciation expense for the third quarter was approximately $2.2 million.

For the nine months ended July 31, 2009, FuelCell Energy reported sales and revenue of $67.6 million compared with $74.6 million in the same period a year ago. Product sales and revenues were $57.1 million compared to $59.4 million in 2008. The product cost-to-revenue ratio was 1.47 which compares favorably with 1.65 for the nine-month period a year ago, reflecting lower per unit production costs and the transition in product mix to primarily megawatt-class power plants. Research and development contract revenue was $10.5 million compared to $15.1 million in the comparable 2008 period.

For the nine months ended July 31, 2009, FuelCell Energy reported a net loss to common shareholders of $56.3 million or $0.80 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of $72.3 million or $1.06 per basic and diluted share in the same period a year ago.

Corporate Highlights

“During the third quarter, we produced our latest cost-reduced fuel cell modules — an important milestone on the path to profitability. These fuel cells generate more power and reduce our cost for each unit,” said R. Daniel Brdar, Chairman and CEO of FuelCell Energy. “We continued to drive sales volumes with the Sonoma County and POSCO Power orders that totaled over 32 megawatts of orders — our highest ever in a single quarter.”

Key Markets

South Korea: In the third quarter, POSCO Power ordered 30.8 megawatts (MW) of FuelCell Energy DFC modules and components for grid support with a value of $58 million. The Company received a down payment of $5.8 million associated with this order in July 2009. In conjunction with the POSCO Power contract, the Company executed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) committing the parties to negotiate to enter into a new technology transfer agreement allowing POSCO Power to manufacture stack modules from cell and module components provided by FuelCell Energy. As part of this arrangement, POSCO Power is expected to make an upfront licensing payment and invest $25 million in FuelCell Energy common stock.

Completion of these agreements was delayed because the Company and POSCO Power experienced a longer than expected commissioning cycle for units currently being installed in South Korea. FuelCell Energy expects to close the agreements before October 31, 2009.

To date, POSCO Power has ordered 68 MW of megawatt-class fuel cell products for its customers in South Korea and 12 MW of these are now operating at customer sites. Ultra-clean, highly efficient fuel cell power plants meet South Korea’s need for increased production of clean power and green technologies that contribute to increased domestic employment as well as its mandate for clean energy generation. South Korea has committed 2 percent of its gross national product to clean energy projects — more than any other developed country. Currently, South Korea is pursuing the passage of a $85.8 billion renewable energy plan that includes a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 11 percent clean energy by 2030 or a total of 7,150 MW.

California: Aircon Energy ordered a 1.4 MW power plant for Sonoma County. The fuel cell power plant will provide electricity for the complex and heat for hot water, space heating, cleaning and cooking, reducing natural gas requirements by approximately half.

California continues to be a strong market for clean energy generation including wind, solar and fuel cells. It is FuelCell Energy’s leading market for renewable wastewater and food processing applications. The Company is currently working with several wastewater treatment facilities that are awaiting notice of award for DOE combined heat and power grants.

With natural gas supplying the fuel for 55 percent of the electric grid, customers like Sonoma County benefit from the ultra-clean reliability of distributed generation fuel cells. FuelCell Energy is currently working with several utilities to expand the use of fuel cells in government buildings.

Looking ahead, the state of California is working several programs that would be beneficial to fuel cells including a combined heat and power feed-in tariff and a renewable energy feed-in tariff.

Connecticut: Currently, FuelCell Energy is in discussions with project developers and financiers for the 43.5 MW of fuel cell projects approved under Connecticut’s Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). In parallel, the Company is submitting applications under the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program for the eight projects. Connecticut’s RPS requires utilities to purchase 27 percent of their peak electricity needs, or about 1,000 MW, from clean power sources by 2020. These projects will also be eligible to receive cash grant awards from the U.S. Treasury in lieu of the investment tax credit (ITC).

Government Initiatives

Under the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), FuelCell Energy, its project managers, and prospective customers are applying for funds from the $6 billion Loan Guarantee program and funds from the federal ITC grant. The loans and grants are intended not only to promote clean power generation but also to create jobs and ensure a strong, safe and reliable grid infrastructure. The ITC grant offsets 30 percent of project costs up to $3,000 per kilowatt.

Cost Out Progress

During the third quarter, FuelCell Energy began production of its cost-reduced, higher output models incorporating 350 kilowatt stacks, lower-cost materials, and improved manufacturing techniques. The new DFC1500 puts out 1.4 MW of power and the DFC3000 generates 2.8 MW. By producing more power in a power plant, the power plants cost less per kilowatt to manufacture. These fuel cell products are expected to be gross margin profitable on a per unit basis.

Government Research and Development Contracts

Pursuant to provisions under the ARRA, FuelCell Energy submitted a number of proposals involving the development and demonstration of new fuel cell technologies. These proposals were submitted in response to DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements in the areas of carbon capture and sequestration, combined heat and power systems, smart grid demonstrations and transformational energy technologies.

Conference Call Information

FuelCell Energy will host a conference call with investors beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on September 9, 2009 to discuss these results.

The details for accessing the live call are as follows:

 * From the U.S. or Canada please dial 877-440-5786
 * Outside the U.S. and Canada, please call 719-325-4856
 * The passcode is FuelCell Energy
 * The live webcast will be posted on the Company's Investors' page at
   www.fuelcellenergy.com.

An audio replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call until midnight Eastern Time on Thursday, September 17, 2009:

 * From the U.S. and Canada please dial 888-203-1112
 * Outside the U.S. or Canada please call 719-457-0820
 * Enter confirmation code 7442668
 * The webcast will be archived for thirty days on the Company's
   Investors' page at www.fuelcellenergy.com.

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy is the world leader in the development and production of stationary fuel cells for commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers. FuelCell Energy’s ultra-clean and high efficiency DFC(r) fuel cells are generating power at over 55 locations worldwide. The Company’s power plants have generated over 340 million kWh of power using a variety of fuels including renewable wastewater gas, biogas from beer and food processing, as well as natural gas and other hydrocarbon fuels. FuelCell Energy has partnerships with major power plant developers and power companies around the world. The Company also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies for the development of leading edge technologies such as fuel cells. For more information please visit our website at www.fuelcellenergy.com

By Mark Vann
Chevrolet Fuel Cell Vehicle Deployment Manager

It’s hard to believe only two short years ago we kicked off Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell electric vehicle deployments for Project Driveway at the Society of Environmental Journalists event in Palo Alto, Calif. Since then, our vehicles have accumulated almost 1 million miles in everyday driving conditions, predominantly on the streets of Southern California, New York and the greater Washington, DC-area.

No other automaker comes close to the number of miles we’ve driven using hydrogen in real world conditions, with real people driving these Equinox fuel cell EVs.

These people are teachers, homemakers, accountants, video game designers and people from many other walks of life just like you, and they were selected based on their passion for the environment and new media prowess. We’ve had around 70 families experience the Equinox fuel cell EV in their everyday driving routines and thousands more at the many ride-and-drive events we’ve participated in across the country.

During the past two years, I have personally ridden with several hundred people in the Equinox fuel cell EVs. The look of sheer amazement on peoples’ faces when they press the accelerator to the floor is priceless and their first comment is almost always, “Wow!”

People love the smooth powerful acceleration and doing it without consuming a drop of petroleum or emitting anything from the tailpipe except pure water vapor. The toughest day for our drivers is when they have to turn in the Equinox at the end of their loan.

We’ve learned a great deal from having the vehicles in varied usage and climates, from the heat of the San Fernando Valley in LA to the bitter cold winter of West Point, NY. We’ve used these experiences to extend fuel cell stack life and improve the regenerative braking system, which benefited our 2-mode hybrid vehicles since it’s the same brake system used on the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon 2-mode hybrids. Plus, we’ve applied what we’ve learned about fuel cell thermal design to the Volt battery design.

We could have tested these vehicles at our proving ground facilities, but the opportunity to have real people drive these vehicles gave us a much higher degree of relevant feedback on the vehicle’s performance – and even more important, it gave us a great opportunity to listen to our customers.

I think I have the best job at Chevy; people love this electrically driven vehicle. It’s quiet, smooth, has great acceleration and most importantly, it does all of this without consuming a drop of petroleum or producing any tailpipe emissions. Fuel cell vehicles are part of an energy diverse future and I’m proud we’re in a leadership position with this budding technology.

Join me and one of our DC-area drivers, Daniel Stewart, right here on Wednesday at 2 p.m. EDT for a live webchat to discuss the future of hydrogen and how fuel cell vehicles fit into the nation’s energy future. Daniel will also be able to give you a first-hand account of what it’s like to drive an electric vehicle powered by hydrogen as an everyday experience.

Our Project Driveway people in the DC-area will also be hosting a tweetup Wednesday evening in Arlington, VA beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. Join us if you’re available.

And make sure to use the hashtag #chevyfuelcell this week if you’re on Twitter and tweeting about fuel cells and hydrogen, because we will randomly select a few people for Equinox fuel cell EV rides from each of the Project Driveway markets (LA, NY, DC).

Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer Delivers Keynote Address in Brunnthal near Munich

Munich – SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, market leader for mobile and off-grid power solutions based on fuel cells, and Hubert Haupt Immobilien Holding, a builder and real estate owner, held a joint roofing ceremony on September 7, 2009, for SFC’s new headquarters south of Munich. The 7,000 m2 building currently being built on the Eugen-Sänger-Ring in Brunnthal will provide the high-tech company with production, laboratory, office, and warehouse space to be occupied in mid-2010. Some 300 guests participated in the traditional ceremony. The keynote address was delivered by the guest of honor, Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer. Seehofer noted that “innovative, dynamic, mid-sized companies like SFC ensure that the Bavarian economy will remain strong and that employment will remain robust throughout the state. The new corporate headquarters in Brunnthal are a clear indication of the strength of Bavaria as a place to do business, particularly in the current difficult economic environment. I am convinced that companies like SFC that courageously invest in the future will have a significant competitive edge when the economy turns around.”

With its new headquarters, SFC Smart Fuel Cell has an ideal basis for continuing its international success story in the field of clean off-grid power generation. Unlike other fuel cell companies, the technology pioneer from Germany has been selling fully commercialized fuel cells for the leisure, industrial and defense markets for several years – with a total of more than 14,000 fuel cells sold worldwide. “Outstanding work has been done on our new headquarters, which combines efficiency and sustainability and thus squares nicely with our corporate philosophy,” said Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. “The economic conditions here in Bavaria are excellent and we have superbly trained, highly motivated employees. This will allow us to continue expanding our leading market position at the international level, and to press ahead from our Brunnthal location with the development of innovative, environmentally friendly power generation solutions.”

The real estate project has an investment volume of EUR 12.5 million and brings together a number of innovative, sustainable elements. In the future, pioneering products will not only be developed and produced, but will also be used in the world’s most modern fuel cell factory: for example, the building will be supplied with electricity from the company’s own fuel cells. “It is just a question of time until today’s architectural dinosaurs are replaced by energy-efficient office buildings,” commented Munich-based builder and owner Hubert Haupt.

Research & Development, Production, Sales, Customer Service and Administration will all be located under one roof on the building’s three floors. Production will be located on the ground floor, which is covered by a two-storey cube-shaped building with a walk-in atrium. The new building will include numerous efficiency technologies, such as solar panel power generation, concrete core cooling and ground water cooling, and a public charging station for electric vehicles. The architecture was designed by the renowned Munich firm of Brückner Architekten.

About SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG

SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (www.sfc.com) is market leader in fuel cell technologies for mobile and off-grid power applications serving the leisure, industrial and defense markets. As one of Germany’s technology pioneers, SFC has won numerous innovation awards. SFC has alliances with leading companies in a wide range of industries. Unlike most other fuel cell manufacturers, who are in the research and development phase or run subsidized demonstration projects, SFC has shipped more than 14,000 fully commercial products to industrial and private end users for more than five years, and has created a convenient fuel cartridge supply infrastructure. SFC is DIN ISO 9001:2000 certified. SFC is based in Brunnthal, Germany, and has a sales and technical service office in the U.S.

Mention of nanotubes usually means carbon nanotubes. But not all tiny tubes are made of carbon. For example, layers made of nanoscopic titanium dioxide have proven to be useful materials for biotechnology, catalytic converters, and solar cell technology. Although the semiconducting properties of these nanotubes are critical for many of these applications, their limited conductivity represents a hindrance for other areas of application. A team at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and the University of Turku in Finland has now found an easy way to breathe some metal-like conductivity into the nanotubes without changing their structure. Through carbonization, the titanium dioxide can be converted into a carbon-containing titanium oxycarbide compound. As the researchers led by Patrik Schmuki report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, this novel material could drastically increase the efficiency of methanol fuel cells.

In order to carbonize titanium dioxide nanotubes, the researchers treated them with acetylene at 850 °C. This forms a carbon-rich compound with semimetallic properties, which is also significantly harder than before carbonization. “This is not about simply doping titanium dioxide with carbon atoms,” clarifies Schmuki. “Although the ordered tube structures remain almost completely unchanged, a new chemical compound is formed. This titanium oxycarbide can be interpreted as a solid mixture of titanium carbide and various titanium oxides.” Its high electrical conductivity and favorable electrochemical characteristics make this new material an interesting new electrode material.

Its use in methanol fuel cells seems particularly attractive. These days, methanol oxidation is usually carried out at catalytic electrodes with a carbon support and a platinum or ruthenium catalyst. “Titanium dioxide nanotubes have been under consideration as an alternative to the carbon support for a number of years,” says Schmuki. “But our new conducting oxycarbide beats these by a mile: Supports made of the oxycarbide increase the activity of the catalyst for the methanol oxidation by 700 %.”

OKYO, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (Paris: JP3854600008 ) will maintain the target for lease sales of its newest fuel-cell car after over a year since its launch despite the challenge of boosting productivity, the model’s chief engineer said.

Honda’s FCX Clarity, a sporty-looking fuel-cell sedan, is still a long way from mass production, the key to pushing prices lower, with a total of only 10 cars on the road in the United States and in Japan.

Honda, Japan’s second-biggest auto maker, has said it is targeting lease sales of about 200 cars in the first three years in the two countries combined.

It aims to have the cars ready for sale in showrooms by 2015.

Fuel-cell vehicles are widely considered the ultimate longer-term alternative to today’s conventional cars as they run on a clean and inexhaustible source of fuel, hydrogen, emit only water vapor and do not compromise driving performance.

Among automakers, Honda and its bigger rival Toyota Motor Corp were the world’s first to put vehicles powered by fuel cells — devices that produce electricity from hydrogen using a chemical reaction — on the road in December 2002.

Still, the most difficult part is how to raise productivity, in particular for building the core part, fuel cells, as Honda is on the last and toughest part of the road toward commercialisation, Sachito Fujimoto, FCX Clarity’s chief project manager, said on Tuesday.

‘Everyday there’s progress,’ Fujimoto said at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.

‘We would like to maintain the target (for 200 cars). It’s my own dream to make fuel cell vehicles for the ordinary motorist. I would like to make the age of the fuel cell cars begin in earnest as early as possible,’ he said in an interview

In an interview with the Nikkei, Shinji Nishio, president of Nippon Oil Corp., said that gas stations will transform into providers of electricity and hydrogen, in addition to gasoline.

Given automakers’ production plans, electric vehicles will in the near future account for less than 1% of all passenger cars, with little immediate impact on gasoline sales. But in the medium term, electric vehicles will have an inevitable impact. I often tell gas station managers that we must adapt to the changing times. Electric cars are currently beset by high prices and short distances per charge, but technological innovation will lead to eventual improvements. Such vehicles may expand at an enormous rate from around 2015.

If the DPJ’s campaign pledge of reducing Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from the 1990 level by 2020 is implemented, it could possibly result in electric and hybrid vehicles accounting for all new car sales.

Starting in October, Nippon Oil is installing rapid chargers at 22 gas stations in Tokyo, Kanagawa and other prefectures. The additional time required to recharge an electric vehicle compared to fueling a car with gasoline (15-30 minutes compared to about 5) may give stations opportunities to provide additional services, Nishio said.

Nishio said he expected the number of gasoline stations may decline by more than 20%, proportional to the fall in demand for gasoline (which began in fiscal 2005).

When fuel cell cars arrive on the market, Nishio said, gas stations will also need to offer hydrogen.

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A hydrogen fuel cell powered bus in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2007.

If you travel by bus in Sao Paulo, Brazil these days your vehicle may be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The city’s urban transportation system recently launched the first of up to five hydrogen buses.  The hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water.

The bus uses a hybrid system that combines the hydrogen fuel cells with high power batteries. It can be driven three hundred kilometers on the hydrogen cell and an additional fifty kilometers on its batteries.

The bus carries passengers in communities around Sao Paulo. The United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and other private, public and international groups supported the project.

Project official Carlos Zundt says the bus is the first of its kind in Latin America. Mister Zundt says the vehicle releases only water vapor and is “totally clean.”  Traditional buses that run on diesel fuel release harmful carbon dioxide and other pollutants.  Most buses around the world run on diesel fuel. Mister Zundt says diesel vehicles are the main cause of air pollution in Sao Paulo.

The cost of the bus has not been announced. Hydrogen fuel cell buses cost more than traditional buses. But Mister Zundt says reducing air pollution and acid rain will reduce respiratory illnesses for people in the city. In addition, the new bus is very quiet and does not produce noise pollution. Mister Zundt says a hydrogen bus will last an average of twenty years, while a diesel bus can be used for five to eight years.

Sao Paulo has almost twenty million people. Almost half of them ride buses every day. Brazil has a large, modern and competitive bus industry. It is one of the top producers in the world. The project hopes to export hydrogen fuel cell buses in the future.

A Brazilian report says that Brazil is one of five countries that have developed such buses.  The others are the United States, China, Germany and Japan.

But not everyone sees the hydrogen fuel cell bus as the hope of the future. Critics note the high cost of producing hydrogen.  And they say other kinds of energy choices can provide power for buses.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com.

Bacteria that generate significant amounts of electricity could be used in microbial fuel cells to provide power in remote environments or to convert waste to electricity. Professor Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts, USA isolated bacteria with large numbers of tiny projections called pili which were more efficient at transferring electrons to generate power in fuel cells than bacteria with a smooth surface. The team’s findings were reported at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, today (7 September). The researchers isolated a strain of Geobacter sulfurreducens which they called KN400 that grew prolifically on the graphite anodes of fuel cells. The bacteria formed a thick biofilm on the anode surface, which conducted electricity. The researchers found large quantities of pilin, a protein that makes the tiny fibres that conduct electricity through the sticky biofilm.

“The filaments form microscopic projections called pili that act as microbial nanowires,” said Professor Lovley, “using this bacterial strain in a fuel cell to generate electricity would greatly increase the cell’s power output.”

The pili on the bacteria’s surface seemed to be primarily for electrical conduction rather than to help them to attach to the anode; mutant forms without pili were still able to stay attached.

Microbial fuel cells can be used in monitoring devices in environments where it is difficult to replace batteries if they fail but to be successful they need to have an efficient and long-lasting source of power. Professor Lovley described how G. sulfurreducens strain KN400 might be used in sensors placed on the ocean floor to monitor migration of turtles.

IKEN, SC — A team of experts who have assembled the technology to build America’s first Net Zero Energy house to be powered by solar energy and a hydrogen fuel cell will break ground and begin construction of the energy independent house of the future at 3 p.m., Sept. 9, 2009 at The Ridge at Chukker Creek in Aiken, S.C.

Aiken, SC — A team of experts who have assembled the technology to build America’s first Net Zero Energy house to be powered by solar energy and a hydrogen fuel cell will break ground and begin construction of the energy independent house of the future at 3 p.m., Sept. 9, 2009 at The Ridge at Chukker Creek in Aiken, S.C.

Aiken County, S.C., is becoming known as Hydrogen County USA because of its remarkable combination of advanced hydrogen technologies and research. The County owns its own $10 million Center for Hydrogen Research (CHR), its own hydrogen vehicle fueling station and a demonstration hydrogen powered pickup truck. Also in Aiken County are the Savannah River Site and the Savannah River National Laboratory where advanced hydrogen research has been conducted for nearly 60 years. These entities work closely with, and some are full members of, the South Carolina Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Alliance at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

The latest advance in renewable energy solutions in Aiken County is inspired by developer Ron Monahan and architect George Watt, who with CHR lead scientist Scott Greenway, Ph.D., have developed the technology to build a house that will have no net energy bill over a year’s time and will store its excess solar-created electricity in a hydrogen fuel cell for later use. Other partners in the project include the Economic Development Partnership, Aiken Electric Cooperative and Aiken Technical College.

The fuel cell is contained inside the house and an observer would not be able to tell the difference between this and any upscale suburban home – not until they look at the power bill.

The house is the first of many anticipated solar/hydrogen fuel cell houses at The Ridge. This house will be a demonstration project designed for thousands of people to explore. It is expected that many engineers, scientists, developers, builders, educators and prospective homeowners who would like to live in an energy independent home, will visit the house during the course of its inaugural year. The developer, architect and other out-of-town team members will stay in the house while they are in Aiken.

The project has extensive political support and many County Council, City Council and legislative representatives are expected to be on hand for the media event as well as leaders of the county school system, Aiken Technical College and USC Aiken.

Organizers plan to allude to the impact that this project could have on future generations with a fun twist on the usual hard hat and shovel groundbreaking ceremony.

Monahan, Watt and Scott as well as several political leaders, will be on hand for interviews beginning at 3 p.m., to be followed at 3:30 by a brief – and photogenic – groundbreaking ceremony.

Please see previous coverage of The Ridge at Chukker Creek at the News page of our Web site. http://theridgeaiken.com/news.php

Announcement compiled by Eakin-Hale Publicists. More information will be available after the event.

The plan to use hydrogen as fuel to run a small fleet of vehicles, to ferry athletes from their “village” to the contest arenas during the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi, is experimental in nature, but a “first” nonetheless in a city which has put its entire public transport system on the pollution-free compressed natural gas (CNG).

The world is looking to hydrogen as a future source of clean energy to run automobiles and also to power factories, businesses and homes. Hydrogen is of course the most abundantly available element on earth. When used as fuel in an engine, it is reckoned to be about 30 per cent more efficient than conventional fuels like petrol. And when it is used through the fuel cell route, its efficiency betters petrol by between 100 per cent and 200 per cent.

The Indian Oil Corporation, which has mooted the plan to operate hydrogen vehicles during the Commonwealth Games, plans to use a mix of hydrogen and CNG in a 20:80 ratio. Such a mix will require only minor adjustments in engines that are already using CNG.

Several leading international vehicle companies have already put hydrogen vehicles on the road in the US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere. Some Indian automobile manufacturers have developed prototypes of vehicles that can be driven using hydrogen, and are likely to test-drive them soon.

These examples notwithstanding, there are quite a few technical issues which need to be tackled before hydrogen can become a practical and economically viable vehicular fuel.

Despite being plentiful, hydrogen is invariably found in compound form, such as in combination with oxygen in water, or in combination with carbon in hydrocarbons like methane and coal. A major challenge before scientists and engineers is how to produce it at a cost lower than competing conventional fuels. Besides, as a gas, hydrogen is voluminous, requiring large tanks to store it for the uninterrupted running of vehicles over long distances. Its most efficient and practical use, therefore, is deemed to be in the form of hydrogen-based fuel cells but that technology is still evolving. At present, these cells are costly to produce. Intensive research and development work is on in several countries to refine this technology, so hydrogen could well become cost-effective before long.

India is has made a belated beginning in this field and is now trying to play catch-up. While the initial attempts have been oriented towards using hydrogen as engine fuel, singly or in combination with CNG, work is simultaneously apace to develop fuel cell technology.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is collaborating with vehicle manufacturers to develop hydrogen fuel cells for automobiles, using the cryogenic technology which it evolved for advanced rocket launch vehicles. Hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen will combine in these cells to produce electricity to drive vehicles in a pollution-free manner, emitting nothing more than water vapour as exhaust. Considering the potential that hydrogen holds out as a renewable and sustainable source of clean energy, and its positive implications for energy security, the work should get appropriate funding and priority.

TOKYO —

The government will conduct demonstration tests in fiscal 2009 to assess the usefulness of fuel cells using airport limousine buses and power generation systems that use the advanced technology, which is regarded as effective in the battle against global climate change, the industry ministry said Friday.

On routes connecting central Tokyo with Haneda and Narita airports, two buses will begin operating powered by fuel cells, which generate electricity by mixing hydrogen with oxygen and emit only water. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will also conduct an experiment for home-use power generation in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, supplying some 20 homes with hydrogen necessary for the cells through pipelines. The ministry will entrust these demonstrations to a private-sector research entity in Tokyo joined by companies such as oil wholesalers and gas suppliers.

YOUNGSTOWN — More companies nationwide are making greater use of or offering green technologies to not only enhance their bottom line, but to share in the responsibility of preserving the environment.

A major entity that recognizes the importance of cleaner, more efficient uses of energy is the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition.

The state is leading the way in the development of fuel-cell technology, and a cluster of businesses and educational institutions that are behind its use can be found in Northeast Ohio and the Mahoning Valley.

That was a main premise behind Wednesday’s two-hour seminar in Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center designed to explore advantages of such technology and address employment and other opportunities in the industry.

The gathering featured a series of speakers who talked about business opportunities and applications related to fuel-cell technology. The U.S. Department of Energy sponsored the event.

An advanced energy technology, fuel cells rely on chemical reactions to harness oxygen and hydrogen to produce electricity without combustion or harmful emissions, explained Dr. James Maloney, an engineering professor at Stark State College of Technology in North Canton.

The college was one of four exhibitors at the seminar to showcase programs and offerings related to the technology. Local companies represented were Catacel Corp. of Garrettsville, Refractory Specialties Inc. of Sebring and Technical Staffing Professionals LLC of Warren.

Fuel cells are cleaner and two to three times as efficient as traditional combustion engines, Maloney told the audience of about 100.

The cells, among other things, can vastly improve the efficiency of power plants and allow for greater use of domestically produced fuels, he noted, adding that Stark State College offers two-year degrees in the field and is working to develop programs for middle and high school students.

Heading the seminar was Patrick Valente, executive director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition.

The coalition is a collaborative of more than 75 universities, companies, government bodies and nonprofit organizations dedicated to expanding the uses and applications of fuel-cell technology.

Members include YSU, Kent State University and First Energy.

Valente said he envisions when fuel cells will be used more extensively to power people’s homes and cars.

General Motors already has about 100 Chevrolet Equinox cars that use the technology and can go 400 to 500 miles without refueling, he noted.

Ohio is a pioneer state in the industry because it has a strong network of economic-development programs, along with strategies, support and a solid supply chain, Valente said, adding that U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown are advocates of the technology. In the past seven years, Ohio has invested more than $70 million in state support and educational initiatives in the fuel-cell industry, he continued.

“You put all of this together, and this is what makes Ohio and the region competitive,” Valente said.

A strategy for this year is to further develop the technology, attract new companies and create a fuel-cell work force, all of which can help reverse the decline in the manufacturing industry and create a greater number of high-skill, high-paying jobs, Valente noted.

Catacel was recently awarded about $450,000 to speed up the production of fuel-cell components, noted Sam Mawlawi, the company’s sales manager.

Catacel employs 23 and makes catalytic converters and fuel-cell components.

Also in the fuel-cell business is Refractory Specialties Inc., which has two sites in Sebring and one in Columbiana.

The fuel-cell business is one of several markets RSI serves, noted Dick Wilk, president.

The company produces about 5 million pounds of fiber annually and also makes parts for the cells, he pointed out.

“Fuel cells are all around us” and could replace conventional batteries and internal combustion engines, predicted Bruce A. Bille, president of Technical Staffing Professionals.

TSP offers consulting services to help businesses find and recruit the right people to allow for the companies’ success, Bille said.

Also presenting remarks at the seminar was Julie Michael Smith of the Youngstown Business Incubator.

At the forthcoming Grove Fuel Cell Symposium, taking place on 22-24 September 2009 at Westminster’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, the prestigious Grove Medal will be awarded to the Honda Motor Company in recognition of their achievements in producing the FCX Clarity hydrogen powered passenger vehicle.

Oxford, UK — The Honda FCX Clarity is a fully practical and road-worthy car with room for four passengers and their luggage. Significantly, the FCX Clarity more than double the fuel economy than its petrol equivalent and one-and-a-half times that of a petrol-electric hybrid, whilst emissions consist only of water. Huge interest has resulted from it being made available commercially to the public in the U.S.A., and it is hoped that fuel cell vehicles will rapidly become more widely adopted throughout Europe.

The Grove Fuel Cell Symposium is a major international conference, and provides a European forum to encourage the commercialization of all types of fuel cells and promote collaboration in their development and application. It will again be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London from 22 – 24th September, and is the eleventh symposium in the series. The first, held in 1989, commemorated the 150th anniversary of the invention of the fuel cell in 1839 by Sir William Grove.

The first Grove Medal was awarded to an Englishman, Francis (Tom) Bacon for his pioneering development of the fuel cells which were developed into the Apollo spacecraft power sources, enabling Man to land on the moon forty years ago this year. A US President congratulated him, saying “Without you, Tom, we wouldn’t have gotten to the Moon”. Subsequently, Grove Medals have been awarded to many other world leading figures and organizations developing fuel cells including United Technologies Corporation, (suppliers of the Apollo and Space Shuttle Orbiter fuel cells), Fuji Electric Company, Fuel Cell Energy, the California Environmental Protection Agency, Haldor Topsøe A/S, Ballard Power Systems and DaimlerChrysler AG. The recipients are chosen by an international body, the Grove Symposium Steering Committee and the medals are sponsored by Elsevier, organizer of the event and world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services.

Hydrogen is seen as a sustainable and secure energy vector which can be easily generated, transported and stored, and is capable of being generated from renewable energy or converting waste materials. As such, it will form the basis of environmentally friendly stationary generators, as well as vehicle propulsion. The sustainable generation and storage of hydrogen will be addressed at the Symposium by speakers including Professor Tim Mays of Bristol University and Rupert Gammon of Bryte Energy, while the development of a hydrogen infrastructure and vehicle developments will be reported by Catherine Dunwoody of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Progress will be reported on stationary systems, including those operating on renewable energy sources. These will become increasingly important as waste streams from industries such a brewing and water treatment are used to generate electric power.

While the United States, Japan and Germany are presently leading the way in demonstrating fuel cells, a series of developments could lead to Britain becoming a major player in fuel cell powered electric vehicles. A coordinating body, UK HyNet will be launched at the Grove Symposium. This is intended to promote a hydrogen vehicle refueling network and to make the United Kingdom the preferred location for development and demonstration of passenger cars and service vehicles such as buses, taxis and delivery vans and includes Nissan as a partner. Organisations such as HyNet, SUPERGEN (Sustainable Power Generation and Supply) and the Regional Development Agencies are making the UK a major player in developing fuel cell systems and infrastructure. Many British companies and organisations already participate in European research and development programmes, as well as producing fuel cells and components which are sold world wide.

Other topics of major current interest will also be covered in the Eleventh Grove Fuel Cell Symposium including combined heat and power systems in buildings, electricity generation and transmission, electronic and portable fuel cell systems, including the latest technical developments in these fields. These also emphasize the importance of fuel cells as a clean energy technology.

The symposium provides a forum for customers as well as fuel cell manufacturers to meet and discuss their joint aims in this important and rapidly moving field, while the accompanying Exhibition provides a showcase of some of the latest technology.

This year’s event, taking place at Westminster’s QEII Conference Centre, London, promises to provide the latest information in fuel cell technology, from the use of fuel cells in buildings, to hybrid vehicles and portable applications.

Join us this September to discover developments from around the world and learn about the latest technologies and developments.

For further information or to register for your free visitor place at the Eleventh Grove Fuel Cell Symposium please visit www.grovefuelcell.com

As the world’s leading publisher of science and health information, Elsevier serves more than 30 million scientists, students, and health and information professionals worldwide.

We are proud to play an essential role in the global science and health communities and to contribute to the advancement of these critical fields. By delivering world-class information and innovative tools to researchers, students, educators and practitioners worldwide, we help them increase their productivity and effectiveness. We continuously make substantial investments that serve the needs of the global science and health communities.

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO– Hydrogenics Corporation (TSX:HYG)(NASDAQ:HYGS), a leading developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products, today announced that it has received a contract to provide HyPM 16 fuel modules for use in zero emission class 8 short haul trucks being developed by Vision Industries Corp. (OTCBB:VIIC) of California. Vision’s Tyrano^TM truck is thought to be the world’s first plug-in electric/hydrogen fuel cell powered heavy duty class 8 vehicle. The contract calls for Hydrogenics’ HyPM fuel modules to be delivered in two stages. The initial units will be used to complete testing and demonstrate the vehicles in and around the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Second stage deliveries will be dependent on purchase orders for the trucks being received by Vision. With the Los Angeles basin heavily polluted by commercial trucking operations, the Ports have implemented a Clean Truck Program to replace older, inefficient, traditional means of transportation by the end of 2012 with clean energy alternatives.

“We are pleased to have been chosen by Vision Industries to provide the fuel cells for a vehicle that may one day lead to a much cleaner environment in the Los Angeles area,” said Daryl Wilson, President and CEO. “While the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach serve as busy shipping hubs, the resulting air pollution has been an environmental problem for decades, impacting the quality of life in Southern California. With Vision’s innovative Tyrano^TM trucks, significant cost savings and cleaner air could be realized in a relatively short period of time. We look forward to working with Vision and the State of California on this very worthwhile endeavor.”

For more information on California’s Clean Truck Program, see www.portoflosangeles.org/environment/ctp.asp.

ABOUT HYDROGENICS

Hydrogenics Corporation (www.hydrogenics.com) is a globally recognized developer and provider of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products and services, serving the growing industrial and clean energy markets of today and tomorrow. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Hydrogenics has operations in North America and Europe.

ANN ARBOR, MICH. –Adaptive Materials, the solid oxide fuel cell manufacturer leading the portable power revolution, recently introduced its 250-watt fuel cell to the market. The system, which joins the 50-watt portable system and 180-watt unmanned vehicle power system in Adaptive Materials’ fuel cell portfolio, will provide lightweight power ideal for recharging batteries and powering portable electronic devices.

“Our 250-watt system was developed to address the real need for soldiers to carry reliable, safe power into the field,” said Adaptive Materials’ chief business officer Michelle Crumm. “Weighing just nine kilograms and occupying 17 liters, our 250-watt fuel cell system can directly power a six bay military issue battery charger for BB-2590s, Li-145s and other lower capacity battery types. Plus, like all of our fuel cell systems, Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt fuel cell is powered by globally-available, lightweight propane.”

Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt fuel cell was developed as part of an internal project funded under IRAD. Adaptive Materials will deliver three 250-watt fuel cell systems to the U.S. Government in late 2009 for field testing.

Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt fuel cell system is designed to be a portable unit for applications requiring more power and longer run time than batteries can provide, including electronics, radios, computers, and battery charging. Designed to fit in the market space between batteries and engine powered generators, Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt unit weighs 20 pounds, significantly less than the smallest military generator, a 3 kilowatt unit weighing 364 pounds. In comparison, Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt system replaces 13 standard military BA-5590 battery units that weigh 13 kilograms each.

Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt fuel cell system has demonstrated a 1500-hour life expectancy.

In addition to its value to soldiers in the field, Adaptive Materials’ 250-watt system is useful to a wide range of potential consumer applications. “Especially for people who enjoy going off-grid for camping, boating, hiking or other recreational activities, the 250-watt fuel cell is an ideal source of portable power,” Crumm added. “Lightweight and powered by the same propane as a camp stove or refrigerator makes Adaptive Materials’ fuel cell the logical choice for consumer power.”

After being very unlucky during their home GP, Greenchoice Forze was on a charge for winning. The team from Technical University Delft, the Netherlands,  set the second fastest lap during the sprint race and finished right behind the Belgian crew. They hoped to even improve this result during the main race, but technical problems occurred and they unfortunately weren’t able to finish their run.

Due to a spin in the semi final, UnizartecH2 from Zaragoza, Spain, didn’t secured a spot in the 0th place play-off. But the Spanish students did battled for the win during the main race. Only the lap times of the Belgian team were a bit quicker and therefore UnizartecH2 finished first.  The hydrogen vehicle from Imperial Racing Green drove smooth lap times on Circuit Genk and the team from London didn’t found any technical problems on track on race day.

The Belgian team leads the championship with a ten point gap to the Spanish students. The British and Dutch teams are separated by only four points and will battle the final event for the last spot on the podium.

The battle for 0th place continues on Thursday 3rd of September Motorland Aragón: Apdo de correos 174, 44600 Alcañiz, Teruel (Spain). Free entrance!

SPRINT RACE RESULTS FORMULA ZERO BELGIAN GP
0th Solvay Umicore Zero Emission Racing Team, 0 points
1st Greenchoice Forze, 2 points
2nd UnizartecH2, 3 points
3rd Imperial College London, 4 points