FuelCellsWorks

http://www.khsltv.com/content/localnews/story/Hydrogen-Car-Road-Tour-Stops-in-Chico/QFubCtU1V0mQRVSQ8ffX0w.cspx

University Park, Pa. — Converting waste water into energy has earned Bruce Logan, Kappe professor of environmental engineering, Penn State, the 2009 National Water Research Institute’s Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research.

The prize was established in 1993 to recognize outstanding research scientists who have demonstrated excellence in water-science research and technology. The prize includes a medallion and $50,000 and is awarded annually. Logan is the 16th recipient.

Logan, receives the award for his innovative efforts to generate clean, renewable forms of energy during the treatment of wastewater. The energy needed to power water infrastructure is often cost prohibitive in developing countries. Logan, who is director of Penn State’s Hydrogen Energy Center, has developed an energy-sustainable water infrastructure for both industrialized and developing nations. His microbial fuel cells allow energy generation form organic materials found in wastewater, producing clean water and energy. His microbial electrolysis cells break down organic matter to produce hydrogen — a portable fuel — and clean water.

The author of Microbial Fuel Cells, one of the first books written on the technology, he has also published more than 220 technical papers. He is a Visiting Professor at both Harbin Institute of Technology, China and Newcastle University, U.K., where he focuses on renewable bioenergy producing. He also collaborates with Tsinghua University, China, where he is developing a zero-electrical energy desalination technology. He is a Global Research Partner with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia.

The prize will be awarded on July 9 at the Sixteenth Annual Clarke Prize Lecture and Award Ceremony, Fairmont Newport Beach, Newport Beach, Ca.

http://kezi.com/news/local/121519

Hy9 Corporation (http://www.hy9.com), a manufacturer of high performance fuel processing and hydrogen purification systems for the portable power, stationary and backup power, industrial gas and transportation markets, is introducing their HGS-M series of methanol-based hydrogen generators for the stationary power market.

The complete HGS family of hydrogen generators, running hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol or natural gas, when integrated with cost effective PEM fuel cells, provides backup power companies a reliable, cost effective, compact and efficient solution to meet increased customer demand for an extended runtime of 72 hours.

“The HGS-M hydrogen generator provides a superior alternative to the high cost, storage limitations and logistical challenges associated with delivered compressed hydrogen cylinders, giving end-users a practical alternative to batteries and diesel generators. The high energy density of methanol provides for extended runtimes of 72 hours without extensive fuel storage,” says Brad Bradshaw, CEO of Hy9.

The HGS-M series is available in 25 liters per minute and 75 liters per minute hydrogen capacities, corresponding to net 1.7 and 5 kW fuel cell systems. Hy9’s hydrogen generators reliably produce hydrogen in excess of 99.9999% purity, ensuring long-lived, high performance fuel cell operation. The systems are highly scalable due to the unique and compact reformer and membrane purifier design, with the added benefit of a minimal system footprint. In addition, systems can be modified to meet customer’s unique requirements including different capacity levels.

“The HGS-M is designed for PEM fuel cell backup power applications requiring extended runtime hydrogen supply. It operates on a fuel mixture of methanol and water with a fuel consumption rate of just over 1/4th of a gallon per kilowatt-hour. A typical 1.7 kW fuel cell could be powered for 24 hours on just 11 gallons of fuel,” adds Mr. Bradshaw.

Hy9’s unique and patented membrane purifier, a core part of the HGS-M hydrogen generator, eliminates the costly and complex purification steps required of many reformer-based hydrogen generators when coupled with fuel cells. Hy9 has successfully placed close to 1,000 hydrogen purification systems in the field, with over 3 million cumulative hours of operation without any field failures recorded to date.

About Hy9 Corporation

Based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts (USA), Hy9 Corporation designs, manufactures and sells low-cost, high-performance fuel processing and hydrogen purification systems for the portable power, stationary and backup power, industrial gas and transportation markets. For companies deploying fuel cells for stationary and portable power applications, Hy9’s membrane purification and fuel processing solutions enable PEM fuel cells to operate reliably and efficiently over long periods of time on available hydrocarbon fuels, such as methanol and natural gas.

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG) announced that it has further adjourned its 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders while it continues discussions with the company’s largest stockholder regarding its vote. The adjourned meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at the offices of Plug Power Inc., 968 Albany Shaker Road, Latham, New York 12110. Stockholders may submit or revoke proxies until the annual meeting. The record date for the annual meeting is March 31, 2009.

Plug Power Inc. is a development stage enterprise involved in the design, development and manufacture of fuel cell systems for industrial-motive (forklift or material handling) markets and stationary power markets worldwide. [SM]

Sacramento, Calif. — The California Fuel Cell Partnership marks the 10^th anniversary of this unique organization with a celebration at its West Sacramento headquarters. A caravan of vehicles on the Hydrogen Road Tour will arrive during the celebration, demonstrating the progress of the collaboration’s members during the decade.

CaFCP was formed in 1999 as a collaboration between two state agencies and six private sector companies with the goal of testing and promoting zero-emission fuel cell vehicles. At the time, California had four fuel cell vehicles and one hydrogen station. Within months, other auto, energy and technology companies, and federal and local government agencies joined the effort. Today, CaFCP has 30 members who are all active in hydrogen and fuel cell technology in the state of California.

“In the early years, the engineers and technicians were the only people who got to drive the vehicles,” said CaFCP’s executive director, Catherine Dunwoody, who has been in her role since the organization’s start. “Today regular customers drive and fill at hydrogen stations in their neighborhood. We’re at the point where it won’t take miracles to bring these vehicles to market.”

The California Fuel Cell Partnership is a consensus-based organization that focuses moving toward a commercial market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. By collaborating between industry and government on projects such as defining and measuring hydrogen quality or coordinating the rollout of vehicles and stations, CaFCP reduces processes from years to just months.

Key milestones over the last 10 years include:

• Moving from early concept vehicles to fleet demonstrations, including some automakers placing vehicles with customers in lease programs.
• 25 hydrogen stations, including six that are publically accessible and a plan to place 40 more stations in six target communities in the next few years.
• A facility study that provided architects and planners with important information about hydrogen-powered vehicles, including specific data showing that current parking structures need no modification for FCVs.
• Developing and implementing an internationally recognized training course for emergency responders.
• Designating hydrogen as an automotive fuel, an important step to sell the fuel at a station.
• Operating the first privately owned hydrogen station, establishing a foundation for private insurance and determining operating costs.
• Reaching hundreds of thousands of people through a fact-based outreach program.

“The last 10 years have gone by fast, and we’ve met or exceeded our goals,” concluded Dunwoody. “I’m looking forward to the next few years as we move to the early commercial market.”

• 60 A-Class F-CELL in operation worldwide – 30 in U.S. operation
• Successful trials underline viability of technology
• B-Class F-CELL to be produced in small series at the end of this year

Long Beach, CA – Daimler’s A-Class F-CELL hydrogen powered vehicle caps a successful five-year journey of road trials in the U.S. with its participation in the Hydrogen Road Tour 09 starting today at Chula Vista, California. The recently converted A-Class F-CELL “plus” with 700 bar technology will participate in the tour along with hydrogen-powered vehicles from other automakers. This new 700 bar technology extends the range in the current vehicle generation by about 70 percent.

The nine day road trip will cover over 1,800 miles and stop in 28 communities before arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 3. The tour is showcasing the progress of hydrogen programs in the U.S. and is organized by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), Powertech Labs, the National Hydrogen Association and the U.S. Fuel Cell Council.

A fleet of 30 A-Class F-CELL vehicles has been in daily use on public roads in the U.S. since 2004. The program includes fleet and infrastructure trials supported by the states of California and Michigan. After the tour, the A-Class F-CELL will be passing on the baton to the next generation of fuel cell vehicles: The B-Class F-CELL, the first fuel cell vehicle produced in a small volume series, but under full series development processes. The A-Class F-CELL vehicles which were deployed with customers from governmental agencies, universities and utility companies, received high marks from their users for their drivability, great acceleration, and zero tailpipe emissions, “We are excited about the positive reception of fuel cell technology in California and across the U.S.,” said Dr. Christian Mohrdieck, Director of Fuel Cell & Battery Drive Development at Daimler. “It is an extraordinary pleasure to me that our trial partners in government and in the private sector consider the A-Class F-CELL a living proof of the viability of hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. They are enthusiastically supporting the plea for funding and creating the much needed infrastructure.”

Fuel cell technology is key to emission-free driving in the future, as it is the only emission-free technology equally suited for both short and long distance mobility. Bringing fuel cell technology to market requires efficient cooperation between political decision-makers, the oil industry, the energy sector, and other potential investors. The production of hydrogen from renewable sources and the establishment of a suitable hydrogen supply infrastructure are crucial to continue the advancement of this technology.
Therefore, Daimler is actively engaging in dialogue and technical cooperation with industrial, governmental and policy stakeholders to foster the partnering and solicit support. The company is an active and founding Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart/Germany member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership and is working with the Department of Energy on a technology validation project.

Only with further cooperation, standardization and the implementation of a comprehensive infrastructure it will be possible to pave the road to emission-free driving. Daimler underlines its commitment to environmental responsibility and will release the first near-serially produced fuel cell vehicles to customers as early as 2010. The company expects the marketability as early as 2015.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL
The B-Class F-CELL is a Compact Sports Tourer which will be introduced to customers by the end of 2009 and is far more powerful and efficient than the A-Class F-CELL. Based on the optimized more compact fuel cell system presented by Mercedes-Benz in its F 600 HYGENIUS research vehicle in 2005, the newly designed stack module is around 40 percent smaller, but develops 30 percent more power output and cuts fuel consumption by 16 percent. The system also has favorable cold-starting ability. The B-Class
F-CELL will boast an operating range of about 250 miles per tank filling.

Fuel Cell Pioneer
A pioneer in fuel cell technology, Daimler’s first drive concept went public in 1994 with the introduction of Necar 1, which was followed by 20 additional prototypes. With the introduction of the A-Class F-CELL in 2003, Daimler presented the world’s first pre-production series vehicle. Today, Daimler operates the largest fuel cell fleet with over 100 vehicles in service worldwide: Concept vehicles, passenger cars, vans, and Citaro city buses Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart/Germany are undergoing trials with customers in everyday operation. In 2007 an F-CELL A-Class reached 100,000 miles and 2,500 operating hours without stack repair or replacement. With some 300,000 emission-free miles covered by this fuel cell fleet, Daimler has more data, expertise and experience at its disposal than any other manufacturer. Insights gained through these trials will flow directly to the ongoing research and development work and help to continue the optimization of this drive system, a strong proof of Daimler’s commitment to innovative leadership on the road to a new era of mobility: sustainable, high-performing, efficient
and emissions-free.

Linde to install fueling station for fuel cell vehicles

MURRAY HILL, N.J. & SAN FRANCISCO– San Francisco International Airport, already one of the world’s most environmentally conscious airports, is about to get even greener. By 2010, the Airport will be home to a hydrogen fueling station, designed and installed by Linde North America.

Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a leading gases and engineering company and one of the world’s largest hydrogen producers. SFO is the Bay Area’s largest airport.

The station will be one of the stops along California’s growing Hydrogen Highway and will be open to drivers of fuel cell vehicles who live in or pass through northern California. Hydrogen from the station also will be used to fuel a fleet of SFO’s shuttle buses as well as the demonstration of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority’s hybrid transit bus which uses hydrogen fuel cell battery and low sulfur biodiesel technology.

Note: Media are invited to attend an event from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. today to dedicate the planned station. The event is one of 28 stops along Hydrogen Road Tour 2009 and will include a convoy of fuel cell powered vehicles traveling from the California/Mexico border to Vancouver, British Columbia. The event also will include brief remarks from organization representatives and elected officials.

Mike McGowan, head of hydrogen solutions, Linde North America, said, “For the past decade, Linde has been focused on finding ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. By teaming up with SFO and our other partners, Linde is uniquely qualified to deliver a hydrogen refueling system that is safe, reliable and will show people how beneficial and practical hydrogen powered vehicles can be.”

“At the heart of the station is the Linde MaxFueler 90, a dispensing system whose fast-fill technology makes hydrogen fueling quick and easy, creating a similar experience to what motorists now get at their local service station,” McGowan said.

The project is partially funded by a $1.7 million grant from the California Air Resources Board (ARB).

John L. Martin, Airport director, said, “The development and installation of a hydrogen fueling station at SFO is just a further extension of the Airport’s commitment to being a good steward of the environment. Whether it be the expansion of solar or wind energy systems, the continued use of CNG and biodiesel fueled vehicles, or being part of cutting-edge systems such as hydrogen fueling facilities, SFO is fully committed to reducing its carbon footprint in our community.”

ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols said, “Thank you to the leaders of San Francisco Airport for supporting this new technology. It will assure that others can embrace fuel cell vehicles with the same ease we enjoy from petroleum engines, thereby increasing the state’s energy and economic security.”

Linde also will supply hydrogen for the adjacent Hythane station, which is set for completion by early 2010. Hythane(R) is a blend of natural gas and hydrogen, often thought of as a bridge technology to pure hydrogen vehicles. “Hythane(R) fuel will be used for 27 airport shuttle buses, providing emissions reductions across a respectably-sized fleet,” said John Nadeau, business development manager of the Hythane Company.

Other project partners include: San Mateo County, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Propel Fuels and automakers GM, Daimler, Toyota, and Hyundai.

About Linde

Linde, one of the earliest entrants into the hydrogen energy arena, is a leader in the safe production, liquefaction, storage and distribution of hydrogen. Linde is the world’s only company with the in-house technology to fuel gaseous or liquid hydrogen regardless of the mode of on-board storage.

Linde has equipped over 70 hydrogen fueling stations in 15 countries, supplying hydrogen for projects large and small. Amounts supplied range from a few hundred cubic feet of compressed hydrogen in cylinders to thousands of tons of liquid and gaseous hydrogen delivered by tank truck or pipeline.

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 52,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 15.9 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.

Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

For more information, see The Linde Group online at http://www.linde.com

About SFO

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop links with more than 30 international points on 25 international carriers. The Bay Area’s largest airport connects non-stop with more than 65 cities in the U.S. on 20 domestic airlines. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. SFO was voted “North America’s Best Airport” in 2008 by passengers for its outstanding customer service and amenities.

GARDNERVILLE, NV — SymPowerco Corporation (PINKSHEETS: SYMW) CEO John Davenport announced today that the company’s majority-owned subsidiary, Polygenic Power Systems (”PPS”), has been notified that its application for grant funding from a major North American Government Agency has been approved. The funding, when received by PPS and its partners, will support SymPowerco’s Flowing Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (FEDMFC) advanced development program.

SymPowerco’s extensive grant application included detailed development plans for the FEDMFC project including engineering objectives, scalability testing as well as detailed manufacturing and marketing plans. As a result of the funding approval, SymPowerco intends to complete and implement its development plans with its project partners, Hybrid Energy Technologies, Inc. and Carleton University in Ontario, Canada. Development activities under this project are expected to start in late summer or early fall of 2009.

Stated SymPowerco President and CEO, John Davenport, “We at SymPowerco are very pleased that our grant application has been approved. Like all such applications, our application was subject to rigorous academic and industrial peer reviews before final acceptance. We have successfully completed that process and we can now move forward with our plans. We believe that our Flowing Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell will be a strong candidate for a wide variety of Hybrid Power System and Fuel Cell markets.”

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

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa.–The 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour begins today and Air Products (NYSE: APD) hydrogen fueling technology will be key to making possible the 1,700-mile start-to-finish hydrogen powered vehicle trek from California to Vancouver, British Columbia.  Along the way the touring vehicles from seven major automakers will make 28 stops over the next nine days in three states and Canada, with Air Products’ hydrogen, hydrogen fueling stations and mobile fueling technology helping to power the caravan of clean, efficient hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

“We are pleased to be providing the hydrogen technology and infrastructure for this tour again this year.  Last year’s event on the East Coast was a great success and we believe the West Coast public will enjoy seeing and driving these hydrogen powered vehicles over the coming days.  Continued exposure of these vehicles and hydrogen fueling gives people and the media a greater understanding that the technology is really here today,” said Ed Kiczek, global director – Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products.

Today’s first day of the tour includes fueling at Air Products’ hydrogen fueling station at the
University of California, Irvine.  The station has been operating since 2007, and at the time of its unveiling, was the first 700 bar (10,000 psi) pressure capable fueling station to be sited in the United States at a location with wider public accessibility for vehicle fueling demonstrations.  More information of what stops the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour will be making can be found at www.hydrogenroadtour.com.

The California Air Resources Board, California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), Powertech Labs (on behalf of British Columbia), National Hydrogen Association (NHA) and the U.S. Fuel Cell Council are organizing the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour. The Tour is making a special focus for stops in the communities where hydrogen technologies such as passenger vehicles, transit buses and hydrogen stations will likely enter the market first.  “The Tour will show how capable today’s hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are by providing performance, environmental responsibility, a reduction of fuel imports and a pleasant driving experience for anyone who gets behind the wheel,” said Jeff Serfass, President of the National Hydrogen Association.

On the Hydrogen Road Tour, the public will be able to see the latest hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles from Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen, including several new models, as well as fuel cell transit buses at several stops.

According to the NHA, there are over 300 zero-emission fuel cell vehicles placed on U.S. roads today along with 62 operational hydrogen fueling stations in anticipation of plans released by automakers, energy companies and government agencies to collectively roll out 4,300 passenger vehicles to customers in California by 2014.  In addition, transit agencies operate fuel cell buses, including BC Transit in Vancouver, which will operate a fleet of 20 fuel cell buses for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Cities, businesses and military bases in California, Oregon, Washington and many other American states are implementing other projects that use fuel cells, including forklifts and stationary power for buildings and cell phone towers.

“Fuel cell technology is on the verge of becoming a practical alternative to burning gasoline,” said Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “This year’s road tour demonstrates how far the industry has come and how near we are to putting these cars in the public’s hands. I’d like to congratulate the partnership, the individual auto manufacturers working to develop these cars and the companies installing needed refueling stations. Their great progress secures our energy independence and defends the environment.”

Air Products, the leading hydrogen supplier to refineries to assist in making cleaner burning transportation fuels, has placed over 90 hydrogen fueling stations in the United States and 16 countries worldwide.  Cars, trucks, vans, buses, scooters, forklifts and other materials handling equipment, and even submarines, have been fueled with this trend-setting technology that involves Air Products’ know-how, equipment, and hydrogen, and use of the technology, which is increasing rapidly at approximately 2,000 hydrogen fills per week.  Air Products provides liquid and gaseous hydrogen, and HCNG (hydrogen/compressed natural gas) fueling, and has developed a variety of enabling devices and protocols for fuel dispensing at varied pressures.  Hydrogen for these stations is delivered to a site via truck, by on-site natural gas reformation, and by electrolysis, including electrolysis that is solar and wind driven.
Air Products has more than 50 years of hydrogen experience and is on the forefront of hydrogen energy technology development. Air Products has an extensive patent portfolio with over 50 patents in hydrogen dispensing technology.  For more information on Air Products’ hydrogen fueling station technologies go to www.airproducts.com/h2energy.

NEW YORK– The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) today announced the signing of a contract with EnerDel, Ener1, Inc.’s lithium-ion battery subsidiary, to produce batteries for one of the most advanced urban transit buses in the world. AC Transit has placed orders for 16 new, next-generation, hybrid-electric fuel cell buses, to replace the three older model fuel cell buses it has been operating since 2006. The new vehicles will use highly advanced battery systems developed by Indiana-based EnerDel Lithium Power Systems, the first company to produce automotive grade lithium-ion batteries on a commercial scale in the United States.

The battery system is an integral part of the zero-emission fuel cell bus, capturing energy from regenerative braking and improving fuel economy and efficiency. Twelve of the buses, which are currently in production, will be the backbone of AC Transit’s fuel cell fleet and are to be used by a consortium of Bay Area transit operators in the California Air Resources Board’s only Advanced Zero-Emission Bus Demonstration program. The other four buses are being purchased by UTC Power and will be operated by various transit agencies under the Federal Transit Administration’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program.

“Onboard energy storage is a critical component of our hybrid-electric fuel cell buses, and finding the correct battery system to work hand-in-hand with our fuel cell system is essential to the overall success of these highly advanced vehicles,” said Rick Fernandez, General Manager of AC Transit. “EnerDel offered us the best solution to address reliability and performance standards in the demanding and difficult operating environment of heavy-duty transit operations.”

Since 2000, AC Transit has been developing what has become one of the most comprehensive hydrogen fuel cell demonstration programs in the world. The 16 new buses will demonstrate that lithium-ion battery systems can be scaled up for use in heavy-duty applications. In addition to EnerDel, the new buses are being designed collaboratively by AC Transit, Van Hool (the bus manufacturer and integrator), and UTC Power, a United Technologies Corp. company (the fuel cell system provider). Hydrogen tanks on the roof of the bus will provide a range of approximately 300 miles.

“We are honored that the design team selected EnerDel for this program, and are excited to be working with them on this project,” said EnerDel CEO Ulrik Grape. “We have successfully leveraged the extensive work EnerDel has developed and delivered for other applications, while tailoring and adding additional features to this system for heavy-duty bus usage. The technologies being used in these buses will eventually find their way into all kinds of vehicles, including the one in your driveway.”

Fuel cell buses are clean, ultra-quiet vehicles that only emit water vapor from the tailpipe. AC Transit began building its zero-emission bus program in 2000. The first three, full-service, fuel cell buses began operating in regular service in early 2006, and have now logged more than 165,000 miles of service, carrying in excess of 400,000 passengers. AC Transit is also the lead agency in a coalition of Bay Area transit operators working together to demonstrate the viability of zero-emission buses to the region and the transit industry. As part of this effort, AC Transit is expecting to receive delivery of its 12 next-generation fuel cell buses before June 2010.

About AC Transit

AC Transit is one of the largest transit agencies in California, serving over 67 million passengers a year throughout a 360-square mile region in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. For 49 years, AC Transit has been recognized as a national leader in the transit industry. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute of Washington, D.C., named AC Transit a “National Clean Bus Leader” for its advanced environmental technology initiatives. In 2006, AC Transit was recognized by the San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission with an award of excellence, for its pioneering work in the development of zero-emission technology and its leadership role in advancing the cause of environmentally sound programs for the public transport industry. More information about AC Transit is available at www.actransit.org/environment/.

NORTH CANTON — Ohio’s two largest utilities, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron and Columbus-based American Electric Power, are seriously considering adopting fuel cell technologies.

Speakers from each company today addressed more than 200 people attending the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition’s seventh annual symposium on the Stark campus of Kent State University.

The message was clear: Fuel cells will have a role to play in utility-distribution systems, meaning consumers should not be surprised to see them popping up in neighborhoods over the next decade or two.

Elizabeth Shaw, FirstEnergy’s energy supply technical adviser, said the utility hopes to use fuel cells to meet Ohio’s mandates that utilities begin generating and selling renewable energy by the end of this year. The state’s new utility regulations require just a fraction of a percent of the power sold this year to come from renewable technologies, but that will grow to 12.5 percent by 2025.

The company in December will install a one-megawatt (1 million watts) fuel cell made by Ballard Fuel Cell Systems of British Columbia. The giant version of the 150,000-watt fuel cells that Ballard has tested for years in buses will come in a tractor-trailer that FirstEnergy engineers can move around the system.

John Schneider, technology consultant for AEP, described a future scenario in which big coal and nuclear power plants are used less and utilities turn to fuel cells, solar panels and wind turbines strategically located across a utility’s local distribution system.

Schneider and Shaw were followed by representative of Ballard and Rolls Royce Energy Fuel Cell Systems.

Mark Fleiner, president of the Rolls U.S. fuel cell division, said financing difficulties have slowed the company’s efforts to roll out one-megawatt fuel cells that would run on pipeline natural gas.

Fleiner said the recession recovery over the next year will determine a commercialization schedule. In the meantime, Rolls has about 50 engineers developing and refining the technology at labs at part of the North American headquarters on the nearby Stark State College of Technology campus.

Listening to battery enthusiasts wax poetic about the Tesla recently – - and seeing a few of them appearing on the streets of west Los Angeles – - I began thinking about the old Tony Curtis film “The Great Race” (remember every time he smiled, there was a shiny sparkle of superiority that gleamed from his teeth?). The roads and Holiday Inns have improved dramatically since the period depicted in the movie, but the idea of testing the claims of exciting new technology at the dawn of a new transportation age is very much the same. So let’s have a 21st Century “Great Race” and pit the Tesla against the other electric car on the market today, the Honda Clarity.

The Tesla is an electric sports car powered by batteries, while the Clarity is an electric sedan powered by hydrogen (a fuel cell converts the hydrogen to electricity). The range of each is rated by USEPA-approved testing at about 230 miles. The similarities end there however – - the Tesla is the fastest production car ever built at zero to 60 mph, giving the little hot rod a distinct advantage that would seem to make a race with a Clarity anything but “great”. Or would it?

The venue for the race has already been set – - in late May, hydrogen enthusiasts are staging a road rally from BC to BC (Baja California to British Columbia), some 1400 miles up the west coast of North America. The idea is to demonstrate the commercialization of numerous hydrogen vehicles and the fueling stations along the way – - the “Hydrogen Highway” – - that will power the 2010 winter Olympics in Whistler near Vancouver. Already, clean electric buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells shuttle skiers around the resorts and slopes of the soon-to-be Olympic venue.

So all that’s needed for The New Great Race is to get a Tesla to participate. Surely the champions of battery technology, the undisputed 0-60 mph speed record-holders, would accept such a challenge. Well, given that they haven’t, let’s use a little math and imagination to stage The New Great Race anyway.

Acceleration speeds aside, highway laws in the four states/provinces along the route will limit competitors to something around 60 miles an hour. The 1400-mile distance means that each car will be driving for about 23.3 hours. At 230 miles range between fueling stops, the cars will also each stop 6 times. It takes me about 7 minutes to refuel my Honda Clarity, so add about 40 minutes for refueling and it will take Team Hydrogen about 24 hours to get from Tijuana to Vancouver.

Team Battery, however, will need four hours of charging time for each battery refueling according to the Tesla website. That’s 24 hours for charging stops in addition to the 23.3 hours of driving for a total of about 48 hours to cover the same distance. Oh well, The New Great Race isn’t so great after all.

In recent testimony before Congress, Energy Secretary Steven Chu acknowledged that for batteries to compete with the performance expected by consumers – - and delivered today by the Honda Clarity and other hydrogen vehicles – - it will take $2 billion of taxpayer subsidies (in the current energy bill for starters) and many years of R&D. The results are uncertain, as recent announcements by MIT researchers suggest – - their “breakthrough” in the lab with lithium batteries that dramatically decreased charging times is years from commercialization and doesn’t address the half ton of batteries you still need to lug around to power a car, which makes the battery-electric vehicle much less efficient than hydrogen-electric vehicles.

By the way, the hype around plug-in electric/gasoline hybrids is also deflated when examined in a distance-driving setting like this. That technology would either make all but 40 miles of the trip on gasoline (the range of the batteries) or stop 35 times to recharge, adding days to the trip.

While all of these technologies are important to help us kick our oil addiction and solve climate change, the clear winner of The New Great Race is definitely hydrogen. Cue the sparkling smile and roll the cameras!

Electric Kyoto by Claude Estèbe (CC).

As the planet warms and the economy cools, renewable resources are emerging as a realistic means to solve both problems in a timely fashion. Advocates of renewable energy want trillions of dollars spent in the coming decades on a continental-scale smart grid that will slash global greenhouse gas emissions and turn society toward a prosperous and ecological future.

How can we build such a grid? What are the next steps? Are we trapped in a future of false promises on clean coal, more nuclear proliferation, resource wars for oil, rising pollution, and business as usual?

The wind doesn’t blow constantly and the sun doesn’t always shine. Aren’t renewables, by their sporadic nature, limited to contribute 20 percent of grid power in a system mainly reliant on coal and nuclear plants for baseload power?

Fortunately not. A hard-nosed, scientific design for a complex and responsive continental renewable resource grid is emerging from behind the coal and nuclear cooling towers. Prospects are moving from rudimentary calculations to data-driven models and computer simulations.

German scientist Gregor Czisch modeled such a super grid for Europe [PDF 2.15MB]. He and I are currently co-developing a proposal for modeling a North American super grid.

In late April 2009, Jon Wellinghoff, Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), said that renewables in a properly designed smart grid can meet our energy needs. He stated that new coal and nuclear plants may be a thing of the past. “We may not need any ever,” he told a U.S. Energy Association Forum. The transformation from baseload power plants that pollute to a renewable future will be similar to the rise of distributed computing networks to replace a world of mainframe computers.

Principles and Prospects for a Renewable Super Grid

The current grid is based on hundreds of large, central, fossil fuel and nuclear generators, with a substantial contribution from large-scale hydroelectric and some emerging wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable power sources. This system relies on regionally based central control and one-way communication with limited long-distance alternating current (AC) transmission interconnection. The regional AC transmission backbone feeds local distribution nodes with limited local generation and storage.

A sustainable super grid system would be based on tens of thousands of renewable energy generators of various types on a continental scale with appropriate storage resources. A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission backbone would link these generators to bring energy from sources to sinks on a continuous basis. The scale of a continental renewable grid using HVDC allows it to be inherently more self-managing than regional grids with more limited power and storage resources. When the wind is not blowing in the east, for example, it may be blowing in the west or the north. Continental scale can take advantage of a variety of storage resources, such as storage hydro and pumped-storage hydro, compressed air, batteries, and flywheels.

System resources are integrated with many millions of locally distributed renewable generators, cogenerators, and storage systems within local power nodes that both reduce demand on the continental system and greatly improve system reliability and responsiveness. These distributed resources include, but are not limited to, rooftop photovoltaics (PV), basement and block cogeneration systems to replace furnaces and boilers, district heating and cooling systems, ground-source and water-source heat pumps, fuel cells, storage batteries, electric car batteries, and flywheels.

The smart grid system combines central and local control with two-way information flows that allow energy users and distributed generators to respond very quickly to price and load signals to help balance the system. Spot price signals, detected at shorter and shorter intervals, are a good proxy for system state. Current Automatic Generation Control (AGC) signals, calling for major power plant response within 2 seconds to balance the system, can become a common standard for distributed smart grid response.

As load increases, prices rise, to which your programmable local control responds by reducing load by duty cycling, deferring non-essential tasks, using storage, or increasing generation. As load and price decreases, local control may increase usage, decrease generation, or fill storage. Complete price signals sent to end users can include location-specific pricing right to the transformer feeding your house, sending price signals that encompass costs for local distribution line loads. As an alternative path for distributed control, a smart grid can use local detection of small electric system frequency variations to keep the system in balance from the bottom to the top and make issues such as AGC an artifact of the past.

Quick price response of user devices is not unrealistic. My associate Pentti Aalto has produced a working prototype of a load controller scraping 5-minute ISO-NE price signals from the web, and using a satellite pager network system to transmit changes in price to a local computer controller that can record energy use and price as well as operate several end-use devices.

In sum, a renewable super grid will:

1. Be continental in scale,
2. Use HVDC transmission for long-distance power flows,
3. Integrate system and distributed power resources and storage,
4. Meet all power needs reliably year round,
5. Be responsive,
6. Be substantially self-regulating and self-healing and protect against common mode failure,
7. Be adaptable to technological changes, and
8. Maintain a dynamic and evolving balance between system and distributed power resources and storage.

Sophisticated modeling and computer simulations are crucial to designing such a renewable grid. We need good data. We need a thorough understanding of current energy use, by node, across the continent on a continuous basis using the shortest time intervals available. We need an understanding of current power plant resources and performance, data on current transmission resources and power flows, data on potential renewable resources and their performance based on comprehensive weather and geotechnical data, access to necessary storage to balance the system, infrastructure for future DC transmission and power flow paths, the ability to integrate this system with increasing distributed generation and storage resources, and future options for interconnection with neighboring continental grid systems.

The working model needs to include optimization of the cost of the system and the price of power; needed changes in regulatory framework, such as proper incentives for distribution utilities and ways to facilitate HVDC construction with proper regional and local participation; potential investment tools to facilitate entrepreneurial and user participation such as use of renewable energy hedges by developers and end users that give users reasonable long-term energy costs and developers long-term reasonable income streams, such as the 15-year wind hedge negotiated between Southern New Hampshire University and PPM Energy. Such hedge arrangements can be used, as well, between HVDC power line builders and energy users to facilitate financing and construction.

The Challenge

The technical and business challenges of planning and constructing a twenty-first century renewable grid system are substantial but not insurmountable. The greatest challenge at the moment is perhaps a crisis of the imagination.

There is clear self-interest in the status quo by the mega-polluters and those who profit from business as usual. What should also be clear is that we are on a path toward self-destruction. We have to bring to the table a clear-eyed understanding that the current path is radically unsustainable. If scientists such as James Hansen are right, we may have limited time before we pass a point where we can no longer merely turn down the thermostat by reducing carbon emissions. Instead of despair or false hopes from clean coal and more nukes, we can embrace the prospects and enormous benefits—economically, ecologically, and socially—of building the renewable super grid.

The super grid can be the key to the successful pursuit of sustainability. It is not all that we must do. But it is a necessary step in evolving from self-destructive industrialism to a twenty-first century ecological civilization.

Simple, tabletop hydrogen extraction system.
Photo: Peter Holst, stock.xchng

In 2004, the State of Colorado planned to invest both federal and state funds in to small companies working on research and development of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen powered vehicles (HPV). The state’s idea was to support existing small businesses and to spawn the growth of what was expected to be the future of transportation. The initial idea was to use $2 million in federal grant money combined with another $10 million in private investment funds to create a laboratory that would be a collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Gas Technology Institute, and private companies in Colorado.

Although it appears the grand plans of cooperation and collaboration never came to fruition, the NREL is still doing incredible work in the field of renewable energy and the Gas Technology Institute is still doing phenomenal research into gas technology that includes hydrogen for both fuel cells and as a combustible fuel.

What remains to be seen is the effect of Department of Energy Secretary (DOE) Steven Chu’s May 8, 2009 announcement of a major cut in funding for research in to hydrogen powered vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells. This announcement came in spite of an April 17, 2009 announcement that the DOE was planning a $41.9 million dollar investment in hydrogen fuel cell technology.

This reversal on one of the most promising clean technologies is troubling. Funding of $2.4 billion for research into gasoline powered hybrids and plug-in hybrids was announced in March of 2009. Research in to hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen combustion technology was funded at a minuscule 1.5% of the level for “cleaner” fossil fuel based transportation.

If the research dollars had been historically reversed, with 98.5% of research funds being spent on hydrogen fueled cars, we would already be pulling up to a filling station to buy hydrogen, not gasoline and diesel. When Secretary Chu stated that a hydrogen infrastructure was still 10, 15, or 20 years away, no one could argue. The lack of funding has put the common goal of a truly clean fuel technology just out of reach. By cutting research funds, the Chu and the Obama administration are putting one of the most promising potential source of clean energy even further out, to possibly 20, 30, or even 50 years.

The hopes, dreams, and data that are driving this decision are that plug-in hybrids will help solve the climate change problem sooner than a truly clean technology. On paper, it is beautiful. A person driving a car powered by clean, cheap, abundant electricity will have no emissions as long as the driver doesn’t drive more than 45-50 miles a day. The longer the distance driven, the more fossil fuel is used. In fact, a person driving from Denver to Seattle would burn less gas by driving a VW Jetta TDI, a diesel powered car, than any currently produced hybrid.

The next question on hybrids is this: How is the power being generated? We are still decades from the time when the majority of our power will be solar or wind generated. We are still building numerous coal fired power plants, and will likely have to build more as the demand for electricity increases due to its use in transportation. At present, powering a car with electricity is still an activity that emits greenhouse gases.

So, why cut funding to the one technology that emits only water? DOE funding, as a percentage, was already minimal. If we had funded hydrogen research adequately, we would already have a hydrogen pump next to the diesel pump. Is the reason hydrogen research was underfunded a lack of lobbying by Big Hydrogen? Or maybe because Big Hydrogen couldn’t complete with the established energy industry in campaign contributions?

The reality is that we are decades away from having a primarily hybrid national vehicle fleet that uses electricity generated primarily from clean sources. It is counter-productive to pull funding on one of the most promising, and truly clean, technologies available.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger championed the qualities of the new hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity yesterday (27th May).

The former actor, who already owns a vegetable oil-fuelled Hummer, made an appearance at a Shell petrol station which is the state’s first to sell gasoline and hydrogen.

Members of the public are being encouraged to test drive 11 fuel cell cars at 28 stops along a 1,700-mile route from San Diego to Vancouver, an event known as the Hydrogen Road Tour.

But Mr. Schwarzenegger revealed that it is the new Clarity that has particularly grabbed the attention of his family.

He said: “I just got the Clarity, which is a wonderful hydrogen vehicle. We’re all fighting over who is driving it. My daughters want to drive it all the time and take it away from me.”

However, the hydrogen fuel technology will need to overcome a number of challenges after the US government decided to cut funding for research by $101 million to $68 million for 2010.

The Obama administration believes that widespread use of hydrogen vehicles is not plausible in the near term, while the lack of fuelling stations – California, for instance, only has 26 – is also a problem.

Meanwhile, Proton Motor has announced the signing of an exclusive five-year deal with Deutsche Mechatronics, designed to take its fuel cell products to the market quicker in Germany.

Under the terms of the deal, Deutsche will manufacture the company’s fuel cell hybrid systems and will eventually aim to improve production capacity to 5,000 units per year per shift.

Proton Power Chief Executive Thomas Melczer said: “This contract manufacturing agreement will enable us to prove to our potential customers that we have the immediate capabilities to mass produce and supply our products to them.

“Furthermore, volume production will reduce the cost of our products and will enable us to more easily accommodate the individual needs of our customers.”

Elsewhere, UltraCell Corporation has confirmed that it is using $3.8 million of new funds to help boost the production, testing and sales of its flagship XX25 portable fuel cell.

The XX25 can power specific laptop computers for eight hours with one 250cc fuel cell cartridge, while also offering weeks of running time for remote video monitoring, surveillance and communications equipment.

UltraCell has secured the new funding from current investors BASF Venture Capital GmbH, OnPoint Technologies, Espirito Santo Ventures and Miami Valley Venture Fund.

“Over the past year we have seen an increase in field use of our XX25 product and success in building our products in our Dayton facility,” said UltraCell Chief Executive Keith Scott.

“Our founding vision was to bring fuel cells out of the labs and into mass manufacturing – and we’re thrilled to be succeeding in this goal.”

Finally, an annual two-day event began in Ohio yesterday which is designed to provide an opportunity for ideas and successes to be discussed in the state’s ever-growing fuel cell industry.

The Ohio Fuel Cell Symposium was set up in 2004 when the state was searching for backing for the fuel cell division of its Third Frontier technology grant-making programme.

Many of the firms in attendance this year are rolling out new fuel cell-based products across the state, such as Crown Equipment, which has been selling a forklift in the New Bremen region.

In addition, Catacel Corporation has been developing catalytic heat-exchange materials and expects fuel cell business to boost its revenue to more than $2 million over the course of 2009.

The firm – which has just won a patent for a new, more efficient reactor for fuel cells – is planning to expand its Garrettsville facility in Portage County and take on 20 extra staff.

President William Whittenberger told Ohio.com: “The hydrogen and fuel cell industries are at a stage where they have the momentum and energy to accomplish some truly revolutionary things in terms of how they apply their technologies.”

Pat Valente, Director of symposium sponsors the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, added that the creation of a new fuel cell workforce to support local companies will be discussed at the event.

Penn State Bruce Logan, Kappe professor of environmental engineering

University Park, Pa. — Converting waste water into energy has earned Bruce Logan, Kappe professor of environmental engineering, Penn State, the 2009 National Water Research Institute’s Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research.

The prize was established in 1993 to recognize outstanding research scientists who have demonstrated excellence in water-science research and technology. The prize includes a medallion and $50,000 and is awarded annually. Logan is the 16th recipient.

Logan, receives the award for his innovative efforts to generate clean, renewable forms of energy during the treatment of wastewater. The energy needed to power water infrastructure is often cost prohibitive in developing countries. Logan, who is director of Penn State’s Hydrogen Energy Center, has developed an energy-sustainable water infrastructure for both industrialized and developing nations. His microbial fuel cells allow energy generation form organic materials found in wastewater, producing clean water and energy. His microbial electrolysis cells break down organic matter to produce hydrogen — a portable fuel — and clean water.

The author of Microbial Fuel Cells, one of the first books written on the technology, he has also published more than 220 technical papers. He is a Visiting Professor at both Harbin Institute of Technology, China and Newcastle University, U.K., where he focuses on renewable bioenergy producing. He also collaborates with Tsinghua University, China, where he is developing a zero-electrical energy desalination technology. He is a Global Research Partner with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia.

The prize will be awarded on July 9 at the Sixteenth Annual Clarke Prize Lecture and Award Ceremony, Fairmont Newport Beach, Newport Beach, Ca.

President Barack Obama released details of his FY2010 proposed budget, which recommends major cuts of funding for hydrogen and fuel cell projects. Within the budget for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Administration proposes zeroing out funding for the Hydrogen Program, which was funded at $168.9 million in the FY2009 Appropriations bill. The Administration instead recommends $68.2 million in funding for “Fuel Cell Technologies,” refocusing the program on fuel cell systems R&D for stationary, portable, and transportation applications. In the DOE Office of Fossil Energy, the budget proposes zeroing out funding for Hydrogen from Coal Research, which received $20 million in the FY2009 budget. The Fossil Energy budget’s Fuel Cells activity proposes $54 million for the Innovative Systems Concepts/SECA program, a reduction of $4 million from the FY2009 appropriation. The Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Network has established an action alert for concerned citizens to “Tell Congress to Restore Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Funding”.

HOPKINTON, MA — Hy9 Corporation (http://www.hy9.com), a manufacturer of high performance fuel processing and hydrogen purification systems for the portable power, stationary and backup power, industrial gas and transportation markets, is introducing their HGS-M series of methanol-based hydrogen generators for the stationary power market.

The complete HGS family of hydrogen generators, running hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol or natural gas, when integrated with cost effective PEM fuel cells, provides backup power companies a reliable, cost effective, compact and efficient solution to meet increased customer demand for an extended runtime of 72 hours.

“The HGS-M hydrogen generator provides a superior alternative to the high cost, storage limitations and logistical challenges associated with delivered compressed hydrogen cylinders, giving end-users a practical alternative to batteries and diesel generators. The high energy density of methanol provides for extended runtimes of 72 hours without extensive fuel storage,” says Brad Bradshaw, CEO of Hy9.

The HGS-M series is available in 25 liters per minute and 75 liters per minute hydrogen capacities, corresponding to net 1.7 and 5 kW fuel cell systems. Hy9’s hydrogen generators reliably produce hydrogen in excess of 99.9999% purity, ensuring long-lived, high performance fuel cell operation. The systems are highly scalable due to the unique and compact reformer and membrane purifier design, with the added benefit of a minimal system footprint. In addition, systems can be modified to meet customer’s unique requirements including different capacity levels.

“The HGS-M is designed for PEM fuel cell backup power applications requiring extended runtime hydrogen supply. It operates on a fuel mixture of methanol and water with a fuel consumption rate of just over 1/4th of a gallon per kilowatt-hour. A typical 1.7 kW fuel cell could be powered for 24 hours on just 11 gallons of fuel,” adds Mr. Bradshaw.

Hy9’s unique and patented membrane purifier, a core part of the HGS-M hydrogen generator, eliminates the costly and complex purification steps required of many reformer-based hydrogen generators when coupled with fuel cells. Hy9 has successfully placed close to 1,000 hydrogen purification systems in the field, with over 3 million cumulative hours of operation without any field failures recorded to date.

Alternative energy company ITM has been invited to take part in an “Eco_Rally” from Brighton to London, using a Ford Focus which it has modified to run on hydrogen as well as petrol.
The company, whose main research and manufacturing facilities are in Sheffield, plans to make the 53-mile journey using hydrogen generated from water, using renewable energy to power its patented electrolyser technology.

ITM modified the factory standard Ford Focus in order to show that hydrogen can be used to fuel today’s engines and society doesn’t have to wait for cars powered by fuel cells to be developed before people can drive cars with zero carbon emissions, using hydrogen.

ITM’s Charles Purkess said: “We need an alternative clean fuel; we need a fuel to replace a fossil fuel; a fuel is a store of energy.

“Existing sources of renewable energy are intermittent and variable; when the wind blows at 3am we waste the electricity generated because it isn’t used or stored. If however, electrolysers were deployed we could store the energy as a clean fuel for whenever we need it.”

“We need pragmatic thinking to allow our car industry to evolve, to achieve long term zero carbon goals.

“We have to consider where our power is coming from, make better use of renewable energy, and reduce our dependency on oil. These are some of the reasons ITM Power are developing electrolysers.”

The state’s growing fuel cell industry is gathering in North Canton this week to celebrate successes and discuss new directions.

The Ohio Fuel Cell Symposium — an annual affair sponsored by the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition — kicked off a two-day event Wednesday with a reception, exhibitions and a ”Fuel Cell 101” course.

While many people might still scratch their heads over what a fuel cell is, that hasn’t stopped Ohio from becoming an industry leader, said coalition director Pat Valente.

The organization was founded in 2004, when the state needed a partner for the fuel cell arm of its Third Frontier technology grant-making program.

Today, ”Ohio has the best supply chain for fuel cells of anyone in the country,” Valente said. ”Any component you need for a fuel cell can be purchased in Ohio.”

Fuel cells have long held promise as a clean source of energy, especially for their potential to replace the polluting engines of automobiles and airplanes. They combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, with water as the only byproduct.

But they are complex to build, and expensive because of their reliance on the rare metal platinum.

Still, several Ohio companies are having success commercializing new products, such as a fuel cell-powered forklift being sold by Crown Equipment Corp. in New Bremen.

William Whittenberger, president of Catacel Corp., a Portage County company that develops and manufactures catalytic heat-exchange materials, said fuel cell clients will help push his revenue to more than $2 million this year.

Plans are under way to expand the Garrettsville facility, he said, and grow the work force of 20 by another 10 to 12 people.

The company is also celebrating a patent it just won for a new, more efficient reactor for fuel cells.

”The hydrogen and fuel cell industries are at a stage where they have the momentum and energy to accomplish some truly revolutionary things in terms of how they apply their technologies” and the new reactor is part of that effort, Whittenberger said.

Also exhibiting at the symposium is an Akron-based company called item North America that makes aluminum machine-building systems. Think giant erector sets for everything from manufacturing equipment to office desks.

Territory manager Jered Lance said item attended last year’s symposium and made quite a few connections.

While the company’s product is available for just about any facility, item has picked up six fuel cell customers in the past year.

”This event opens doors,” Lance said.

During today’s lineup, Valente said he will explain a new ”road map” for the coalition, which until now has had a very broad mission of establishing Ohio as a hub for fuel cell activities.

The new focus, he said, will include creating a fuel cell work force (through programs such as the one started by the Stark State College of Technology), and better coordination of resources around the state to support existing companies and attract new ones.

Fuel cells, for years just over the technology horizon, are closer now than ever.

So says Patrick Valente, the new director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition and a past employee of the Ohio Department of Development who helped with funding of high-tech projects as a strategy to create jobs.

The statewide coalition’s annual symposium and trade show is under way on the Kent State Stark campus in North Canton.

Fuel cells are able to generate electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst. The exhaust is water and carbon dioxide.

Some cell phone companies already use fuel cells as standby generators. Automakers hope to use fuel cells to power electric cars. Utility applications include using fuel cells to meet peak power demands and helping to balance supplies at other times.

Ohio has set aside $100 million for fuel cell research and commercialization projects.

About $40 million in Third Frontier grants has been awarded to individual projects, half of that already spent, according to the Third Frontier’s 2008 annual report, issued in January.

Companies that have received the grants have leveraged about $100 million in other investments and created or retained 250 jobs, with an average annual salary of $65,000.

More than 200 are attending the conference, representing national and international fuel cell manufacturers and fuel cell component makers

Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Mark Shanahan, the Strickland administration’s energy adviser, are scheduled to address the crowd.

FirstEnergy Corp. and American Electric Power, the state’s two largest electric utilities, are talking about how their companies plan to use very large fuel cells in their distribution systems.

Pioneer fuel cell maker Ballard Power Systems of British Columbia and Rolls Royce Fuel Cell Systems (USA) Inc. of North Canton also are on the agenda.

A number of fuel cell makers who are already selling products are also scheduled to talk about their business plans.

Members of the public can test drive 11 fuel-cell cars and SUVs at one of 28 stops along the way. Hydrogen vehicles generate no tailpipe emissions aside from water vapor.

“I’m actually cleaning the air as I drive. What could be better than that?” said Stephanie White, a state biologist who showed off her hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox to the governor at the stop in West L.A..

But not everyone is a fan of the technology. Critics say the fuel is difficult to store and can require more energy to produce than it provides once it’s in the car.

Emissions can also be generated during the production of the fuel. The fuel cells are expensive – at least a couple of hundred thousand dollars per vehicle, according to Spencer Quong of the Union of Concerned Scientists — because they contain precious metals such as platinum and palladium.

Infrastructure is another problem. There are just 26 hydrogen fueling stations in California, making commutes difficult.

Although Honda and General Motors have released a limited number of hydrogen-fueled cars to select Southern California households, they will provide them only to people who live within a few miles of several fueling stations in the Los Angeles area. Critics argue that building a viable network of fueling stations could cost billions.

The Obama administration has proposed to slash funding for research into hydrogen-fueled vehicles by $101 million to $68 million in 2010, arguing that the technology is not viable in the near term.

Patrick Serfass, a spokesman for the National Hydrogen Assn., a Washington-based group that includes General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Shell Hydrogen, took issue with that proposal at today’s event.

“There is no silver bullet,” he said. “Only with a variety of technologies are we going to be able to meet our environmental and technological challenges.”

Schwarzenegger said he wants California to be at the forefront of all energy-saving technologies, including fuel-cell and plug-in cars.

“We don’t want to choose the winners,” he said. “I think the market will decide.”

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks during a stop on the Hydrogen Road Tour 2009, an annual road rally of cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, at a Shell station in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 27, 2009. The tour is a nine-day trek from Chula Vista, Calif., to Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Seven automakers will drive 12 high-tech fuel cell cars and SUVs on the trip, stopping at hydrogen stations and using a mobile refueler to fill up. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

SACRAMENTO – If AIG was too big to fail, how about the world’s eighth-largest economy?

In a move with only one modern-day precedent, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration and members of Congress for federal loan guarantees to help the state out of a desperate, multibillion-dollar jam.

California is not asking for cash, like the tens of billions given to AIG, General Motors or Morgan Stanley. Instead, the state with the worst credit rating in the nation is asking that Washington act as a sort of co-signer on the state’s borrowing, to be backed up with money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

California leaders say that would make it easier and cheaper for the state to borrow money on the bond market, reducing the interest rate by as much as half and saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Obama administration has responded cautiously to the idea, and members of Congress from other states worry that it would put the federal government in the business of backing municipal bonds – a job traditionally held by investment banks.

They worry also that the U.S. government could overextend itself and risk its triple-A credit rating if California and other states or cities in distress start coming to Washington hat in hand.

But California leaders warn that without assistance from Washington, the nation’s most populous state could fall deeper into a financial abyss and resort to even bigger spending cuts and layoffs, becoming a drag on the economic recovery of the nation as a whole.”There’s simply no better stimulus than guaranteeing state and local bonds, particularly those that are being used to get through the crisis and avoid layoffs,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, one of 15 Democrats in California’s House delegation who signed a letter earlier this month asking for the federal loan guarantee.

Plus, supporters of the idea note that Washington stands to make a profit from loan fees as it did after bailing out New York City in 1975, a move that brought the city back from the brink of ruin.

Because of a steep drop in tax revenue, Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are struggling with a projected deficit of $24 billion, or more than a quarter of the general fund.

Come this summer, California will need to borrow money simply to pay for day-to-day operations. The state does that routinely every year. But this time, the amount California must borrow is a lot higher. And the tight credit market and questions about California’s ability to repay are likely to make borrowing extremely expensive for the state.

“We are not asking for a bailout,” said state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat. “We’re asking for the federal government to step in where commercial banks can’t this year because of the crisis within the financial industry.”

So far, no other state has asked for such aid. States such as Arizona and Nevada have proportionately larger deficits than California but do not face the same cash-flow crunch. Michigan is in distress too, but stands to benefit from the Obama administration’s rescue of the auto industry.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a House committee last week that he did not have authority to use financial rescue money to help state governments. But he did not rule out assistance. He said California’s request would have to be decided in Congress.

The idea’s prospects in Congress are uncertain. But California has far more clout in Washington than any other state, with the nation’s largest congressional delegation and a San Franciscan, Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the House.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, said he supports legislation to help California and other cash-strapped cities.

“I think if the federal government can go to the aid of major financial institutions, particularly when state and local governments face short-term liquidity issues, I think helping them out is very relevant,” Frank said.

California already has cut $15 billion and raised taxes by nearly $13 billion this year. Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting nearly $20 billion more, including eliminating California’s welfare-to-work program and getting rid of health insurance for 930,000 poor children.

Other members of Congress worry about the precedent if the government agrees to guarantee California’s borrowing. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, said other states would be certain to ask for help, too, and he warned that the U.S. government’s credit rating could be downgraded as a result.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford rejected a similar plea from New York City, prompting the not-entirely-accurate headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” With the city on the verge of bankruptcy, the president ultimately relented, signing legislation for federally guaranteed loans. The loans have since been repaid with interest.

California is just as likely to repay its loans, said Matt Fabian, a bond analyst at Municipal Market Advisors, based in Concord, Mass. He and others noted that the state has never been late on a payment, and is always collecting revenue and has the option of raising taxes.

“California’s not going to default,” Fabian said.

Ronn Motor Company, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: RNNM) announced today it has joined with Nelson Philippe and the Indy Racing Team, I Drive Green, to promote, advance and teach the art of eco-driving to minimize fuel consumption and emissions without unduly compromising performance.

Details are being addressed to incorporate the I Drive Green concept as another of Ronn Motors eco-friendly product offerings. At the same time, in keeping with their values of promoting eco-friendly awareness within the transportation sector, I Drive Green is planning to install H2GO(TM) real-time, hydrogen generation systems onto the big rigs that haul their racing cars between the many IRL racing events.

Ronn Maxwell, CEO of Ronn Motor Company, stated, “We are very pleased to be teamed up with Nelson Philippe and I Drive Green. The combination of teaching the art of eco-driving along with the installation of our H2GO(TM) system augments our ability to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The relationship with I Drive Green further solidifies our credibility and the value provided by our H2GO(TM) system.”

As well, during his hectic week at Indy, Nelson Philippe found an opportunity to test drive the Scorpion(TM), Ronn Motors’ eco-exotic supercar. Stepping out of the car, with a big smile on his face, Nelson commented to the gathered press, “That’s one bad ass car!!!”

I Drive Green was born from the concern of Indy 500 racer, Nelson Philippe, about the role we can all play in saving the environment in which we live, not only for our generation, but also for future generations. Vehicle emissions are one of the largest contributors to air pollution, yet vehicular transportation is something we cannot live without.

I Drive Green, under Nelson’s direction, has been successfully promoting and teaching the art of eco-driving in France and Belgium for the past nine years. This year’s Indy 500 officially launched the I Drive Green’s concept, in North America. For more information and to view photos of Nelson with the Scorpion, please visit www.i-drivegreen.com.

Headquartered in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, Ronn Motor Company, Inc. is a design and manufacturing company focused on the leading edge engineering of environmentally friendly, finely built premium automobiles and “green,” eco-responsible technology. These technology systems include Hydrogen Fuel, Fuel Cells, and Plug-in Electrics and will be incorporated into our automobiles to be made available for aftermarket applications. Our products, coupled with RMC’s core values of a strong sense of ethics, environmental sensitivity and premium quality, position the company as one of the new leaders in an automotive industry transitioning toward fuel efficiency. For more information, please visit www.ronnmotors.com

This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Ronn Motor plans and expectations. In this press release and related comments by Company management, words like “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “objective,” “plan,” “goal” and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements, representing management’s current judgment and expectations about possible future events. Management believes these forward-looking statements and the judgments upon which they are based to be reasonable, but they are not guarantees of future performance and involve numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance, achievements or financial position to be materially different from any future results, performance, achievements or financial position expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.