Last Friday, June 12th, the US Fuel Cell Council hosted a House briefing for Congressional staffers interested in learning more about fuel cells and hydrogen and progress being made to commercialize these technologies. All of these presentations are available to download from the Council’s homepage, but here is a quick summary of the event.
In a recent interview, Energy Secretary Chu said it would take “four miracles” to commercialize hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Miracles can happen – in fact, they have, prompted by the Department of Energy’s own research program and confirmed by DOE’s own analyses. See how after the jump.
Today, seven very diverse national organizations sent a letter to congress asking to restore federal funding for fuel cells and hydrogen. (Have you sent your letter yet?) It’s exciting to see groups come together like this in support of the technology. More info below.
The Insider is now on twitter - @fuelcellinsider. We’d love to know what you are up to as well, so say hi so we can follow you!
Also, it’s linked on twitter, but we want to make sure you’ve seen this great article: http://bit.ly/DaCmv. Enjoy.
So - I’m sure you are all busy crafting tons of letters, right? Take a moment now and send one to Congress by going to http://capwiz.com/fuelcells/home/ or send something similar to the one below to your local newspaper. The following is a sample letter-to-the-editor that we encourage you to use. If you have other suggestions or want to share pieces of your letter, add them in the comments.
One of the easiest things you can do to help save federal funding for fuel cells and hydrogen is to send letters to your Senators and Representatives. And we have made it even easier for you by setting up a page that will automatically find your representative. All you need to do is enter your zip code, edit our suggested text if you like, and click send. This is a good way to mobilize our friends and family as well as others in the industry, so tell everyone you know about our CapWiz page.
If you are involved in the fuel cell industry in any way, be sure to include that in your letter. We’ve put together a few messages, information and talking points that will help you craft a more personal letter, but even sending our suggested text as it is written will help. This is an opportunity to show Congress your support of hydrogen and fuel cells. So get loud, insiders!
UPDATE - Governer Schwarzenegger is scheduled to speak in West LA this morning! Shell Station, West LA, 9-10 am.
Remember the Hydrogen Road Tour from last year? Well, they’re at it again, and this year it’s an even bigger affair.
Amid the recent disappointing news of budget cuts to the US Department of Energy’s fuel cell vehicle program, there have been several bright spots for fuel cell vehicles. The following announcements have been made in the last several days.
“It’s been an interesting 30 days,” says Bob Rose from the US Fuel Cell Council. Read on to find out why.
