The Obama Administration proposed on Monday to reduce funding for PEM-based hydrogen and fuel cell programs in FY 2011, proposing $137 million (a reduction of $37 million), and provided no money for new vehicle deployment under the Technology Validation program. SECA program funding was proposed at $50 million, a reduction of $4 million from 2010.
Please click through for a more detailed summary.
Whew! What a start to the week. The Obama Administration proposed on Monday to reduce funding for PEM-based hydrogen and fuel cell programs in FY 2011 - Expect to see a separate post with more details in just a few minutes. But first, lets see how the Auto Show went.
There was a great representation of fuel cell cars - 4 different manufacturers had their vehicles on display, and some even had an employee on hand to answer questions. We tried not to grill them too hard!
First, our interns Brian and Semee posed with the Mercedes F-Cell. Insiders might get a chance to hear from Semee soon - look for a few guest posts.
Lots more after the jump.
The Washington Auto Show is going on this week, only a few blocks from our offices, and we have seen some pretty cool cars driving by. The Chevy Volt was even available for test rides across the street! We have heard that there are several fuel cell cars at the show, and we will actually be taking our two interns Brian and Semee over this afternoon to check them out.
I guess even US Energy Secretary Steven Chu must have noticed the cars during his tour of the show yesterday. Secretary Chu spoke at the 2010 Washington Auto show about the Obama administration’s commitment to advancing fuel efficient vehicles while helping to create clean energy jobs. After talking about other advanced vehicle technologies, Chu mentioned fuel cells - he said: “and hydrogen fuel cell, its longer in the future, its still in there.” Small progress, but progress just the same!
Like I said, we will be at the show this afternoon, so come back and look for pictures either later today or Monday morning right here. Has anyone else had a chance to head over to the Convention Center? We’d love to see your pictures as well.
From March 3rd to the 5th, 2010, Tokyo Big Sight convention center will host the 6th International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo (FC EXPO), as well as a photovoltaic (PV EXPO) and battery (Battery Japan) conference. Read more about the conference and Japan’s recent activities after the jump.
Senator Byron Dorgan, a champion of renewable energy and the leading Senate advocate for hydrogen, has decided to retire at the end of the year after three 6-year terms in the US Senate. Read more after the jump.
We want to wish everyone very happy holidays and hope you all have a wonderful new year.
See you in 2010!
- Jen & Brynne, Fuel Cell Insiders
The National Research Council has released a new report, Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies - Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, that concludes that the costs of plug-in hybrid electric cars are high and unlikely to decrease drastically in the near future. Subsidies in the tens to hundreds of billions of dollars will be needed if plug-ins are to achieve rapid penetration of the U.S. automotive market. Even with these investments, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are not expected to significantly impact oil consumption or carbon emissions before 2030.
The report also found that in addition to cheaper batteries, access to electric outlets in parking spaces is needed as well as advanced smart meters and electrical system upgrades for home recharging. The National Resource Council recommends that the U.S. needs to adopt a “portfolio approach” to curbing oil use. “This should include increasing the fuel efficiency of conventional vehicles and pursuing research, development, and demonstration into alternative strategies, including the use of bio-fuels, electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.” We agree. What do you think?
There is also a new web page that incorporates most of the computer simulation work behind the NHA’s “Energy Evolution” paper. The site is intended to provide technical details of the various alternative vehicles (hybrids, plug-ins, biofuels, battery EVs and fuel cell EVs), including quick links to the latest papers and reports in this field.
A recent article in the Washington Post is making the rounds here in the nation’s capital. Bob Rose, Executive Director of the US Fuel Cell Council has submitted a great response to the author. Check out the original article and Rose’s response after the jump.
Following their big announcement in October about signing a joint “Letter of Understanding” with fellow automakers to push forward the development of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and the hydrogen infrastructure, Hyundai-Kia has come forth with even more detail about their fuel cell vehicle program.
At the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee earlier this week in Arlington, Virginia, Todd Suckow from Hyundai-Kia gave a presentation revealing some of the tremendous progress the company has made with regards to FCVs. They have been actively introducing FCVs for several years now, starting with the Tuscon and Tucson FCVII and evolving to the Sportage FCVII and the Borrego FCV, Hyundai-Kia has had more than 30 cars participating in a U.S. Department of Energy Fleet Program and the same number in a similar program in Korea. The Korean program also includes the demonstration of four fuel cell buses. The Borrego FCV recently participated in a public road test starting at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California and drove 396 miles on a single fueling en route to Los Angeles. The average fuel efficiency for the run was 60.47 mpkg.
The 4th generation of the Hyundai-Kia FCV is set to start small scale production in 2012. We can’t wait.
Our CapWiz site (Remember, the one you used to send your Congressmen a letter? Encouraging them to include funding for fuel cells and hydrogen in the DOE’s budget? Thanks again, by the way) has been updated! Check it out.
