FuelCellsWorks

ADA – The Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition (OFCC), in conjunction with the Ohio Northern University T. J. Smull College of Engineering and the Ohio Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Center, will conduct a fuel cell forum at The Inn at ONU on Friday, Aug. 21, at 9 a.m.

Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), this two-hour event will discuss hydrogen and fuel cell technology in Ohio and its role in the state’s economy. It also will focus on the developing opportunities associated with hydrogen and fuel cells. The USDOE is promoting 10 educational events throughout Ohio to highlight fuel cells as one of Ohio’s strong technology sectors and educate Ohio regional leaders on this emerging technology.

Scheduled to speak at the event are Patrick Valente, director of the OFCC, Dr. Michael Martin, vice president of Alternative Energy Technologies at Edison Materials Technology Center, Steve Hatkevich, research and development director at American Trim, and Eric Jensen, research and development manager at Crown Equipment Corporation.

Since 2002, Ohio has invested more than $70 million in fuel cells, and the industry has leveraged an additional $200 million of federal investments leading to new and growing fuel cell activities. Fuel cells are clean and efficient in their use of energy and offer a low carbon footprint, which leads to an environmentally friendly source of alternative power.

Fuel cells are used commercially for stationary grid power, backup power, lift trucks, laptop computers and a variety of other portable and stationary applications. Much of this activity takes place in Ohio. The U.S. military has utilized fuel cells in sensors, surveillance, communications and computing devices.

Hyundai Motor Co. (KSE:005380) and its affiliate, Kia Motors Corp. (KSE:000270), unveiled a plan Thursday to develop environmentally friendly cars in an effort to become one of the world’s four largest “green car” makers.

Under the plan, Hyundai and Kia will push to produce hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles  within two to three years and start selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States in 2012.

Plug-in hybrid electric cars can be recharged from a standard home outlet.

Hyundai and Kia announced last month they will invest a total of 4.1 trillion won (US$3.28 billion) by 2013 to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles with less carbon emissions.

The two auto makers began selling hybrid versions of their Avante and Forte compact models, powered by liquefied petroleum gas, in South Korea this month.

(Yonhap) rw

Currently, GM and Honda have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles running around in select areas as test and low-volume production vehicles. GM is hoping to change that by 2012 by releasing a hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle.

“Technology leadership is one of the pillars of the company,” said Alan Taub, GM’s executive director of research and development. “That is going to remain, and it will probably be emphasized as part of the brand of GM.”

GM has already made improvements with the technology and has reduced both the size and cost of its fuel cell stack. However, the company still has a ways to go to make the fuel cell stack cost competitive as Taub said it costs about 30 percent more than the upcoming Volt’s powertrain right now.

Taub confirmed GM is working on a production fuel cell vehicle, but said nothing about what vehicle the fuel cell would be put in or any other specifications on it. He’s striving to have the vehicle in production by 2012.

While hydrogen fuel cells have been praised for producing no harmful emissions, they face an uncertain future as there is no infrastructure set up to handle hydrogen refilling. Also, unlike the last administration, President Obama has little interest in hydrogen fuel cells.

Source: Automotive News

LONDON- Californian fuel-cell technology company PolyFuel Inc said on Thursday it would cease operations immediately and seek shareholder approval to liquidate its assets after failing to secure a buyer.

“The board and its banker, KBC Peel Hunt have been unable to secure a satisfactory offer for the company on a going concern basis,” PolyFuel said in a statement.

Shares in London-listed PolyFuel were suspended in July when the company said it was struggling to secure new capital and warned it would have to wind down the business if it failed to find a buyer.

PolyFuel, which had been looking for funds to complete technology and product development, said last month that equity capital for development stage companies was proving “very difficult” to come by.

PolyFuel had developed a fuel cell power supply for the Lenovo ThinkPad notebook PC.

(Reporting by Lorraine Turner, editing by Paul Hoskins)