FuelCellsWorks

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–Sprint (NYSE:S – News) announced today it is the only wireless carrier to be awarded a $7.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding earmarked for fuel cell technology. This is the largest single grant awarded by the Department of Energy for this round of grant funding, which totaled $41.9 million. The grant funding will be used to expand Sprint’s hydrogen fuel cell program at cell sites throughout the United States – creating 72 hours of additional network resiliency, especially critical during emergencies and natural disasters.

The grant funding will be used to expand the number of Sprint cell sites which rely on hydrogen fuel cells for back-up power. These fuel cells are activated when service from the local electric utility is disrupted during severe weather or other natural disasters. Currently, most deployed hydrogen fuel cells are paired with low-pressure hydrogen tanks which provide around 15 hours of back-up power before needing refueling. As part of this grant, Sprint will work with hydrogen fuel cell manufacturers, tank providers and hydrogen suppliers to extend the unassisted run-time to 72 hours.

“Since 2005 Sprint has been a leader in the deployment of fuel cell technology. We have deployed more than 250 hydrogen fuel cells in our network, have been awarded a total of three Department of Energy grants to deploy new hydrogen fuel cell technologies and awarded 12 patents from the U.S. Patent Office that include hydrogen fuel cells,” said Bob Azzi, senior vice president of Network at Sprint.

Hydrogen fuel cells provide a much cleaner alternative to diesel-powered back-up generators which have been utilized in the past. Sprint’s leadership in hydrogen fuel cell deployment is just one example of the company’s commitment to the environment. Recently, Sprint announced a set of ambitious environmental priorities that included reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15 percent and securing 10 percent % of Sprint’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2017.

“Sprint gets it – this alternative source of energy for mobile communications will not only help stimulate the nation’s economy and rebuild America, but also help lead to a greener cleaner environment,” Azzi continued.

Berlin, Germany–Heliocentris Fuel Cells AG, a leading fuel cell system integrator, has successfully completed its subscription rights issue and a subsequent private placement issuing 800,000 shares at EUR 5.00 per share. The company is especially proud of having won, in addition to existing shareholders, Conduit Ventures, London as a new major shareholder. Conduit with shareholders such as Shell, Mitsubishi and Solvay is a venture capital company with a special focus on energy storage, fuel cell and supporting low carbon technologies.

The company raised gross proceeds of EUR 4.0 million. Its share capital will increase from EUR 2.25 million to EUR 3.05 million divided up into 3.05 million shares at a par value of EUR 1 per share.

M.M.Warburg & CO, Hamburg, and the London investment house Innovator Capital Limited, which specializes in clean technologies, have managed the transaction.

According to Dr. Colell, CEO of Heliocentris Fuel Cells AG, ‘We are very happy and grateful for the continued confidence shown in Heliocentris by our existing shareholders and welcome Conduit Ventures, one of the most knowledgeable investors in our field, as a strategic shareholder. The capital raised will allow us to maintain our growth strategy, particularly the continuing internationalization of our core business and the entry into industrial market segments through the development and launch of new hydrogen and fuel cell systems’.

Please contact us for further information:

Heliocentris Fuel Cells AG Dr. András Gosztonyi (CFO) Tel.: +49-(0)30-6392-6185 E-Mail: investorrelations(at)heliocentris.com

About Heliocentris Fuel Cells AG Heliocentris is a leading provider and system integrator of fuel cells. Educational institutions, universities, research facilities and companies in over 50 countries are among its more than 10,000 clients. These customers already use over 50 items from among Heliocentris’ eight product lines today. Worldwide, Heliocentris ranks as one of the market leaders in the field of educational and R&D systems for fuel cells. The width of the offering ranges from educational systems for instruction and studies to integrated laboratory equipment for research and development as well as industrial applications tailored to the client. Fuel cells are considered to be a key technology for the supply of energy by means of renewable energy sources. Fuel cells are environmentally friendly electrochemical energy converters that transform chemical energy directly into electricity and heat with a high level of efficiency. As a pioneer in its field, Heliocentris possesses a wealth of long-time experience in the development, production and marketing of this significant technology of the future. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. A subsidiary in Vancouver, Canada, serves the American market. Further information can be found at www.heliocentris.com

Fuel cell technology company, PolyFuel Inc (AIM: PYF) announced that it had secured US$2.5 million in development funding from the US Department of Energy. The funding will be supplied over a three year period, and will be used to develop a demonstration prototype of a portable fuel cell power supply for a notebook PC. PolyFuel’s technology is based on a direct methanol fuel cell that uses a novel membrane and membrane electrode assembly.

“The objective of the new program is to advance the technology further to meet the goals for performance, durability, and cost that the DOE has established for widescale commercial adoption of DMFC technology for use in laptops and other portable electronics devices,” the company said. “Specifically, PolyFuel proposes to further integrate and miniaturize the components and subsystems to increase the power density and energy density of the overall DMFC system.”

PolyFuel president and CEO Jim Balcom said the company was “delighted” with the continued support of the US Department of Energy.

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (AIM / ASX: CFU) is pleased to announce the result of its Rights Issue made to qualifying participants within Australia and New Zealand and its Overseas Offer made to
qualifying participants outside of Australia and New Zealand and certain other territories.

Approximately 88% of the Rights Issue Shares were subscribed for by shareholders. The Company will issue 176,179,873 fully paid ordinary shares at the issue price of 5 cents to raise an additional A$8.8 million (£4.3 million).

Approximately 95% of the Overseas Offer Shares were subscribed for by shareholders. The Company will issue 99,906,445 fully paid ordinary shares at the issue price of 2.2p to raise an additional £2.2 million (A$4.6 million).

The total amount raised under the Rights Issue and Overseas Offer is A$13.4 million (£6.5 million).

These funds are in addition to A$20.1 million (£9.0 million) raised under the recently completed placing to institutional investors and subscription by certain cornerstone investors.

Applications have been made for the Rights Issue Shares and Overseas Offer Shares to be admitted to trading on ASX and AIM and it is expected that dealings on ASX and AIM will commence on or around 21 April 2009.

On admission, the Company will have 1,029,878,680 ordinary shares on issue.

Performance and Reliability than Expected in Revenue Service

WASHINGTON–Fuel cell buses have operated successfully in public transit fleets around the world, according to a new report written for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) by the Breakthrough Technologies Institute (BTI) and the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE).

The report examined hydrogen bus demonstrations in 19 cities in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Among other things, the report found that the vast majority of buses performed better than expected and were very popular among passengers. The buses also were popular with drivers, many of whom reported being less tired at the end of their shifts, primarily because fuel cell buses make significantly less noise than their internal combustion counterparts.

“Fuel cell buses were more reliable, better performing, and easier to integrate into public transportation fleets than many had expected,” said William Vincent, a lead author of the report. “With additional research and development, they hold real promise to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and petroleum dependence in public transportation fleets.”

The fuel cell buses typically were operated daily in 16-hour duty cycles. Collectively, they covered more than 1.6 million miles and served more than seven million passengers. The fuel cells were much more reliable than many transit agencies had expected and the operating life was increased significantly over previous generations of fuel cell technology. For example, fuel cells in the European demonstrations averaged over 3,000 hours operating life, with a maximum of 5,000 hours. Moreover, the hydrogen fueling stations proved to be very safe. The buses were refueled more than 11,000 times without any major incident.

Based upon this success, most transit agencies that demonstrated fuel cell buses are eager to deploy larger fleets in the future. In fact, AC Transit in California recently purchased four additional fuel cell buses and BC Transit in British Columbia purchased a fleet of 20 fuel cell buses. Many transit agencies also called for enhanced government support for fuel cell buses, thus enabling more buses to be deployed in a shorter timeframe.

The report, “A Report on Worldwide Hydrogen Bus Demonstrations, 2002-2007,” can be downloaded free from the FTA’s website: http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/ReportOnWorldwideHydrogenBusDemonstrations_2002to2007.pdf.

Ludwigshafen–BASF Fuel Cell GmbH presents new products for fuel cells and reformers on Hanover Fair 2009. A team of experts is available for visitors in hall 13, booth E 54/2, and informs about the latest developments.

With the Celtec® product line, BASF is the technology leader for high temperature membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), enabling competitive and reliable fuel cell systems. In Hanover, the Celtec-P2100 MEA will be introduced. The new product was developed in 2008 and offers improved long term stability: a key requirement of stationary heat and power systems.

Additionally, BASF presents the Selectra® catalysts product line. Under the brand name Selectra®-E, precious metal catalysts for fuel cell electrodes are developed and commercialized. A recent development is the new Selectra®-E-CRC series: high performance catalysts for fuel cells combining high activity with excellent long term stability.

Fuel Cells can be seen as small chemical enterprises where hydrogen and oxygen react in a controlled manner to efficiently generate electrical power and heat.

About BASF Fuel Cell GmbH

BASF Fuel Cell GmbH is a supplier of materials for fuel cells and reformers. The company is a leading supplier for high temperature membrane electrode assemblies, developed and commercialized in the Celtec® product line. Additionally, a broad variety of catalysts for fuel cells and reformers is covered by the product line Selectra®. BASF Fuel Cell continues the fuel cell activities of BASF, Engelhard and PEMEAS. For further information go to www.basf-fuelcell.com

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

ALBANY, N.Y.–MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (“MTI Micro”), the developer of the Mobion® off-the-grid portable power solution, and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated (“MTI”) (NASDAQ: MKTY), announced today that it has been awarded $2.4 million in funding from the United States Department of Energy (DOE).

MTI Micro will utilize the U.S. DOE funding to further develop manufacturing processes for Mobion® fuel cell systems, reduce overall costs and help accelerate fuel cell use to power portable electronic devices in the consumer market. Mobion® is an energy generating device that uses Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (“DMFC”) technology. Unlike batteries, Mobion® micro fuel cells do not just store energy generated from the power grid. Mobion ® is a grid-free power source that converts the energy of methanol, a bio-degradable fuel, into usable electricity for portable devices.

“Fuel cell technology is a clean and more energy-efficient alternative to batteries. The Department of Energy has been a long-time supporter in helping companies to develop energy technologies that use renewable fuels to reduce our dependency on the power grid,” said Mr. Peng Lim, CEO and President of MTI Micro. “Successfully commercializing micro fuel cells will not only provide consumers with a more efficient way of powering their mobile devices, but will also help us create more green jobs in our country.”

MTI Micro has also received a bridge loan commitment to borrow up to an additional $0.8M from an existing bridge investor managed by Dr. Walter L. Robb, a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, as well as a new investor.

Altogether, these funds will help support MTI Micro in its strategy to commercialize a greener alternative portable power source for mobile electronic devices in the growing $70 billion global battery market.

About MTI MicroFuel Cells

MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc., a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated (NASDAQ: MKTY), is the developer of Mobion® off-the-grid portable power solutions. MTI Micro has a team of entrepreneurial business executives, researchers and scientists; a proprietary direct methanol micro fuel cell power system and a number of system prototypes demonstrating size reductions and performance improvements; and related intellectual property. MTI Micro has received government funding and developed strategic partnerships to facilitate efforts to achieve commercialization. More information is available at www.mtimicrofuelcells.com.

About The U. S. Department of Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex.

Plug Power Also Receives $6 M in Awards for Fuel Cell Market Transformation

LATHAM, N.Y.– Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), a leader in providing clean, reliable energy solutions, has announced they have received over $6 M in awards from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for fuel cell market transformation programs. The funding will be used to integrate Plug Power’s fuel cell solutions into material handling, residential and stationary power applications. Successful completion of these projects will strengthen the product portfolios for Plug Power’s GenDrive and GenSys products.

Additionally, nine programs were awarded to Plug Power customers for DOE market transformation projects, totaling over 304 GenDrive units deployed into the field. Replacing lead acid batteries in electric lift trucks, these product installations will allow for fleet conversions within warehouses and distribution centers in Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

“These awards move commercial customers beyond field trials to full fleet conversions,” said Tony Troutt, Director of Sales at Plug Power. “Strong support from large customers in diverse industries will drive rapid market adoption.”

As part of the $6 M in awards, the DOE will also fund a three-year project to verify the durability and commercial readiness of Plug Power’s combined heat and power GenSys product. Designed for residential and light commercial applications, GenSys replaces traditional furnaces and boilers, creating electricity and high-quality heat for the consumer. The DOE funded reliability fleet will be installed in highly visible locations in Southern California, working with Southern California Gas Company, a Sempra Energy utility, and the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine.

“We appreciate the DOE’s investment and commitment to fuel cell technology,” said Katrina Fritz Intwala, Vice President of Government and Public Relations. “Their vision and leadership has facilitated expansion and growth within the industry. This will allow companies like Plug Power and its customers to deploy exciting alternative energy products and accelerate the growth of green jobs.”

About Plug Power Inc.

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), an established leader in the development and deployment of clean, reliable energy solutions, integrates fuel cell technology into motive, continuous and backup power products. The Company is actively engaged with private and public customers in targeted markets throughout the world. For more information about how to join Plug Power’s energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic partner, please visit www.plugpower.com.

WASHINGTON, DC ­- To expand the use of clean and renewable energy sources and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced $41.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for fuel cell technology.

These efforts will accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fuel cells and will create jobs in fuel cell manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and support services.  The new funding will improve the potential of fuel cells to provide power in stationary, portable and specialty vehicle applications, while cutting carbon emissions and broadening our nation’s clean energy technology portfolio.

“The investments we’re making today will help us build a robust fuel cell manufacturing industry in the United States,” said Secretary Chu.  “Developing and deploying the next generation of fuel cells will not only create jobs – it will help our businesses become more energy efficient and productive.  We are laying the foundation for a green energy economy.”

The $41.9 million will support immediate deployment of nearly 1,000 fuel cell systems for emergency backup power and material handling applications (e.g., forklifts) that have emerged as key early markets in which fuel cells can compete with conventional power technologies.  Additional systems will be used to accelerate the demonstration of stationary fuel cells for combined heat and power in the larger residential and commercial markets.

The increase in manufacturing volume in key early markets will also bring costs down and encourage the growth of a domestic supplier base. A variety of technologies will be developed and deployed, including polymer electrolyte, solid oxide and direct-methanol fuel cells.

The funding includes:

• $41.9 million from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund 13 projects to deploy fuel cells – helping to build a consumer base for U.S. fuel cell manufacturers.
• Approximately $72.4 million in cost-share funding from industry participants—for a total of nearly $114.3 million. This cost share demonstrates private sector commitment to developing and deploying these clean, energy efficient technologies.

Fuel Cell Market Transformation Projects

Arkansas

FedEx Freight East (Harrison, AR)

This project will deploy 35 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at FedEx’s existing service center in Springfield, Missouri. Success at this service center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of FedEx’s other 470 service centers. $1.3 million

California

Jadoo Power (Folsom, CA)

Jadoo, together with Acumentrics Corporation, NASCAR Media Group, Lynch Diversified Vehicles, California’s Police and Fire Departments of the City of Folsom, and Airgas, Inc., will establish the environmental and cost benefits of using a 1-kW fuel cell power system to generate electricity, as opposed to traditional gas/diesel generators and lead acid battery power sources.  This demonstration will provide operating data from each field unit at customer sites, as well as degradation analysis and projected system lifetime. $1.8 million

PolyFuel, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)

The objective of this project is to further integrate and miniaturize the components of PolyFuel’s portable power system for use in mobile computing, and analyze failure modes to increase durability.  Polyfuel will also conduct a design for manufacturability and assembly review to ensure that the systems meet the cost targets for commercialization. $2.5 million

Colorado

Anheuser-Busch (St. Louis, MO)

Anheuser-Busch will deploy 23 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at their facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, demonstrating the economic benefits of large fleet conversions of forklifts from lead-acid batteries to fuel cell power units. Success in this project will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Anheuser-Busch’s other 11 U.S. facilities. $1.1 million

Massachusetts

Nuvera Fuel Cells (Billerica, MA)

To accelerate market penetration of fuel cells, East Penn Manufacturing (an industrial and automotive battery manufacturer) and Nuvera will deploy 10 fuel cell forklifts in East Penn’s facility in Topton, PA.  Fuel will be supplied by Nuvera’s natural gas reformer, storage, and dispensing system. $1.1 million

Michigan

Delphi Automotive (Troy, MI)

Delphi will develop, test and demonstrate a 3- to 5-kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) auxiliary power unit (APU) for heavy duty commercial class 8 trucks. The demonstration will improve upon Delphi’s current generation SOFC technology by increasing net output power and fuel processing efficiency, decreasing heat loss and parasitic power loss, and establishing diesel fuel compatibility. $2.4 million

New York

MTI MicroFuel Cells (Albany, NY)

To accelerate fuel cell use in consumer markets, MTI will demonstrate a one-watt consumer electronics power pack.  The project will focus on improving reliability to meet the standards required by the electronics market and will include testing of individual components, subsystems and complete direct methanol fuel cell systems.  MTI will also develop manufacturing processes to improve product yields and reduce overall costs. $2.4 million

Plug Power, Inc. (Latham, NY)

This demonstration project will validate the durability of Plug Power’s 5-kW stationary combined heat and power fuel cell system and verify its commercial readiness. Plug Power will carry out a three-year project to test its units in residential and light commercial applications in California. $3.4 million

Plug Power Inc. (Latham, NY)

This project will demonstrate the market viability of the GenCore® rack-mounted fuel cell product that provides clean and highly reliable emergency backup power. Plug Power will install and operate new systems in real-world applications at geographically-diverse sites, providing for as much as 275 kW of backup power. $2.7 million

Pennsylvania

GENCO (Pittsburgh, PA)

This project will deploy 156 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for fleets of electric lift trucks at six of GENCO’s existing distribution centers (South Carolina, Pennsylvania – 3 locations, and Ohio – 2 locations).&nbssp; Success at these distribution centers will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of GENCO’s other 109 distribution centers. $6.1 million (six awards)

Texas

Sysco of Houston (West Houston, TX)

Sysco will deploy 90 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a fleet of pallet trucks at Sysco’s new distribution center in Houston, Texas, due to open in August 2009. This installation will be the first ever green field installation in the world without battery infrastructure for a pallet truck fleet. Success at this distribution center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Sysco’s other 169 distribution centers. $1.2 million

Virginia

Sprint Communications (Reston, VA)

Sprint Nextel will demonstrate the viability of packaged 1-kW to 10-kW fuel cell systems with 72 hours of on-site fuel storage for backup power to communication infrastructure used by state and local first responders and by public safety answering points (911 centers). Sprint will address siting and permitting issues, and will benchmark the lifecycle costs, performance, and operational characteristics against the incumbent technologies (batteries, generators, and diesel fuel). $7.3 million

Washington

ReliOn Inc. (Spokane, WA)

ReliOn will add reliability to a utility communications network where no backup power was previously available at 25 sites throughout central and northern California. They will deploy 180 fuel cells with a new refillable 72-hour fuel system to locations across the AT&T Mobility Network. This project will provide DOE with installation, fueling logistics, and operating data for fuel cells in voice and data communications networks in mountain, desert, and urban locations. $8.6 million (two awards)

A second BMW Hydrogen 7 has been loaned to The Petersen Automotive Museum and is now on display in the section of the Streetscape called, “What Will They Think of Next?” Come to the Petersen and learn about this interesting technology and its impact on the world.

One car has been in  service as an on-the-road demonstration vehicle. The other is now on display inside the museum.

The Petersen’s Alternative Power Exhibit also features a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, a coal- and wood-burning truck, a steam-powered car from the 1970s, a General Motors EV-1 and a 1963 Chrysler Turbine car.

Today sees the release of the new Fuel Cell Today Portable Survey 2009

Fuel Cell Today, the leading organisation for market based intelligence on the fuel cell industry, has published its latest Survey on portable fuel cells.

The new Survey reveals that 2008 saw around 9,000 portable units manufactured and shipped, mainly in the form of fuel cell toys and demonstration kits, with an increasing number of small units for remote monitoring and display lighting. Most of these units were PEM fuel cells fuelled by hydrogen.

Fuel Cell Today anticipates shipments will increase markedly over the next year as one or more electronics manufacturers and fuel cell companies working in partnership with electronics developers are likely to release a commercial DMFC battery charger in the next year, for either laptops or mobile phones. Over the next few years, significant increases in unit shipments are expected as niche applications such as battery chargers give way to consumer electronic devices with integrated fuel cells and consumer uptake reaches the millions of units per year.

Fuel Cell Today also introduces the idea of a ‘long peak’ of growing portable fuel cell shipments, mainly in the consumer electronics sector. As the report says: ‘We anticipate that these niche applications will add up to a long peak of fuel cell adoption eventually cumulating in the conventional short peak of demand for mass market fuel cell powered consumer electronics, of the type envisaged by Sony, Toshiba and the other electronics OEMs’.

The Survey includes unique analysis of the prospects for portable fuel cells over the next ten years, including forecasts of units shipped by application, by electrolyte type and by hydrogen fuel source.

There is a full review of financial developments, the supply chain, infrastructure and legislation issues affecting portable fuel cells, as well as in-depth case studies on portable battery chargers and the Taiwanese portable fuel cell sector.

How to obtain the Survey

The Fuel Cell Today Portable Survey is the only analytical report to cover developments in the portable fuel cell sector over the last year as well as market forecasts for the next ten years. This is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the outlook for successful commercial development of fuel cells.

The Survey is available at a price of £1,000 and can be purchased now from http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/surveys or ordered from review@fuelcelltoday.com

The full list of contents and the Executive Summary are free to preview at http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/surveys

The Abruzzo Region in Italy is installing fuel cells to power the Mediterranean Cup that will be held from June 26 till July 5, 2009 in Pescara, for more info see http://www.pescara2009.it .

Within the past week a number of ambitious politician plans for electric and hydrogen cars in Copenhagen & Denmark have been published. The new climate plan for the municipality of Copenhagen sets the target that 85% of all cars in the municipality service are electric and hydrogen powered in 2015 corresponding to 600 cars. A new energy plan from the Conservatives government party in Denmark suggest a continuation of the present registration tax exemption on electric & hydrogen cars throughout 2015, thus avoiding the normal taxation on up to 180% of the base car price. The plan also calls for strong investments in hydrogen refuelling stations allowing for all new car sales in 2025 to be electric and hydrogen only. Further public funding for energy R/D/D are to be doubled to €134 million annually, where 1/3 of the funds in the past have been spent on hydrogen and fuel cells.

The political plans continue and significantly support the strong efforts of the Hydrogen Link Denmark as well as the Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership to ensure the region as one amongst the first in the world where hydrogen fuel cell cars are market introduced.

Today four hydrogen refueling stations and around 20 vehicles are in operation in Scandinavia with ongoing activities to ensure further 9 stations in the coming year together with up to 50 vehicles. Earlier this year the Municipality of Copenhagen signed a contract on supply of 15 fuel cell vehicles to be put in operation onwards the United Nations Climate Meeting in December together with plans for a hydrogen refueling station.

Onwards 2015 it is the ambition to further increase number of vehicles and stations in Denmark as well as Scandinavia enabling market introduction. The political plans for electric and hydrogen vehicles are an important step towards ensuring the necessary market frame conditions and political support for such development.

Below are summarized the main electric & hydrogen car initiatives in the political plans:

Electric & hydrogen car initiatives in Conservatives government party

* Target that all new car sales in Denmark in 2025 are electric and hydrogen
* Continuation of registration tax exemption on electric & hydrogen cars throughout 2015 (avoiding up to 180% tax on base car price)
* Roll-out of national network of hydrogen refueling stations & infrastructure by 2011
* Initiation of tests with hydrogen busses in the major cities
* Free public parking for electric & hydrogen cars
* Doubling of annual national support for R&D and demonstration of new energy technologies from €67 million to €134 million, including support for fuel cell vehicles & hydrogen refueling stations (1/3 of all annual public funding in the past have been spent on hydrogen & fuel cells)

Electric & hydrogen car initiatives in Copenhagen Municipality Climate Plan

* From 2011 all new car procurement in the municipality are to be electric & hydrogen
* In 2015 85% of all municipality cars are to electric or hydrogen, corresponding to 600 cars
* Free parking in Copenhagen for electric & hydrogen cars
* CO2 emissions from busses to be reduced with 25% through use of electricity & hydrogen
* Vision of becoming a CO2 neutral municipality in 2025

SAMSUNG Reveals New Military-Grade Fuel Cell in U.S. Army Performance Test

PASADENA, CA–VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC), an alternative energy company providing products and technology for renewable and clean energy, announced that SAMSUNG, one of the world’s leading electronics companies, revealed its new military-grade fuel cell-powered by a methanol fuel cartridge developed and delivered by VIASPACE Inc–in a press release and at the Korea Green Expo held last week in South Korea.

SAMSUNG also revealed that it has completed fuel cell performance tests for 72 hour operation with the U.S. Army’s CERDEC (Communication Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center).  Plans for mass production include fuel cells not only for military applications but expanding the platform to include mobile electronics, like notebook computers, and industrial equipment. SAMSUNG reported that Frost and Sullivan expects sales of military fuel cells to reach more than 100 million units for a market value of more than $580 million by 2013.

VIASPACE Chief Executive Carl Kukkonen remarked: “We’re pleased with SAMSUNG’s success and are continuing to work closely with their research and development staffs as they take further steps toward commercial production for both the military and consumer markets.”

The fuel cartridge was developed by VIASPACE’s fuel cell subsidiary, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation (DMFCC), under a contract with SAMSUNG. Using VIASPACE’s fuel cartridge full of liquid methanol, the fuel cell efficiently converts the methanol into electrical energy without burning.  SAMSUNG’s  high efficiency military direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) system produces the same energy as batteries two to three times its weight at a cost-per-kilowattt-hour 50% to almost 98% lower than batteries.  SAMSUNG’s fuel cell may be operated in any orientation, a key requirement for military applications.

Kukkonen added: “Our clean energy business is focused on designing and manufacturing disposable fuel cartridges that supply methanol for fuel cells, which we feel will become a major source of power for electronic devices such as notebook computers and cell phones.  Since a notebook computer powered by a fuel cell is projected to use approximately 100 fuel cartridges during its lifetime, we see our partnerships with Samsung and other companies as opportunities to develop a substantial base of recurring revenues.