Fuel Cell

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took delivery of a fuel cell-powered Mercedes A-Class vehicle, the F-Cell, from DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) for the Chancellery's car pool. The company plans to have 60 of the cars on the road around the world by the end of this year.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. , which has developed the world's smallest fuel cell system for supplying power to households, intends to make its system even smaller before commercialization, the company's top engineer for the system said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD) has been selected for three demonstration projects by the California South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) for fueling stations to be placed in Burbank, Riverside and Santa Ana in 2005. Air Products will be collaborating with Proton Energy Systems, Inc. (DESC) on two of the fueling stations. Each city will operate its station following fueling process and safety training by Air Products.

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U. S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center/Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) and will provide a 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plant to the Department of Defense (DoD) Fuel Cell Test and Evaluation Center (FCTec) for evaluation in a combined heat and power application. This distributed generation fuel cell system will supply electricity, and the byproduct heat will be coupled with an adsorption chiller.

Toyota Motor Corp (TM) are developing a hybrid drivetrain system that can be used for gasoline, diesel, natural gas and fuel-cells.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc (ENER) and ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures LLC, is demonstrating the use of its metal-hydride hydrogen storage system in a modified hydrogen-electric variant of today's best-selling hybrid sedan. The modified hydrogen hybrid will be available for test drives at the South Coast Air Quality Management District's "Hydrogen - Fueling the Clean Air Future" conference today and tomorrow, August 16 and 17, at the J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert, Calif.

Stuart Energy Systems Corp (SRNYF) attended the grand opening ceremony held at the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) Diamond Bar headquarters. Hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles from Honda, Toyota, and DaimlerChrysler were fueled at the grand opening ceremony. The AQMD's facility is among the first of 13 hydrogen-fueling stations co-funded by AQMD and slated for construction throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. These stations will provide fuel for hydrogen-powered fuel cell and internal-combustion engine vehicles used in fleet demonstrations throughout the region.

DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) announced its first fuel cell vehicle customer in California today the Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The government agency will use a DaimlerChrysler F-Cell in daily use, based at its new hydrogen refueling station, the first station to be open to the public. Just a reminder, DaimlerChrysler is in partnership with Ballard Power (BLDP) to provide the fuel cell stacks.

Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Greenlight Power Technologies (Greenlight), received a multi-million dollar test station contract from General Motors (GM). The highly customized test stations will be delivered to GM's Fuel Cell Activities research facility in Honeoye Falls, New York. In addition to the test station contract, General Motors has also awarded Hydrogenics with a new multi-million dollar contract to provide testing services in support of General Motors' fuel cell stack development program.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc (ENER) announced that they are going to be focusing on accelerating the commercialization of its products. The Board of Directors has unanimously approved Management's business restructuring plan to take full advantage of the favorable battery settlement agreement announced on July 7, 2004 and the increasing market interest in solar energy systems and hybrid electric vehicles.

Astris Energi Inc. (ASRNF), the world's leading alkaline fuel cell (AFC) technology company, announced today it has paid down an existing debenture thus eliminating Astris' only long-term financial liability.

Ford Motor Co. will begin testing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) in October in California, Florida, Michigan and British Columbia, Canada, the firm said yesterday.

Sumitomo Corporation has announced that is has obtained Japan's first certification for a 700-bar (10,000psi) pressurized hydrogen storage system for fuel cell vehicles in collaboration with Suzuki in July 2004. The hydrogen storage system that Sumitomo is using is produced by Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc (QTWW). This is the third country where Quantum hydrogen storage system has been approved for use.

Vectrix debut their fuel-cell-equipped prototype at the Fuel Cell Seminar in Miami Beach, Fla. in November of this year. They plan to bring this new scooter to market by 2006. Vectrix is 50% owned by Parker Hannifin Corp (PH). Hannifin provides the compressor that is twice as efficient and twice as durable as competing technologies. Parker Hannifin engineers say that it could serve as a cathode air compressor or as a hydrogen recirculation pump on all kinds of fuel cells, both in vehicles and stationary power applications. They are also utilizing battery technology...

Ballard Power (BLDP) has announced that second-quarter losses narrowed year-over-year to post better-than-expected results, but revenue declined across many business segments on lower volumes and decreased demand. Revenue fell to $21.2 million from $29.1 million for the same period in 2003, primarily due to lower product revenue as a result of completing deliveries of heavy-duty bus engines to the European Fuel Cell Bus Project in 2003. The significant decline in engineering service revenue in the latest quarter was due to the development phase of the current generation light-duty fuel cell engine program nearing completion and the next generation...

An editorial article from South Carolina's TheState.com expresses concern for funding for Fuel Cell research. The guess columnist expresses his concerns and feels that they would be better served looking at Biomass alternatives. An abstract of this opinion article is show below, with a link to the full story. A growing group of distinguished scientists sees the “hydrogen economy� as a ruse ��? a distraction from the much more viable alternative of biofuels. Nor has the hydrogen illusion escaped the notice of astute investors, as the major fuel-cell companies have seen their share prices drop by half...