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! 

http://cryogas.com/blog/?p=18

Remember the Hydrogen Road Tour from last year?  Well, they’re at it again, and this year it’s an even bigger affair.  The California Air Resources Board (ARB) just announced earlier today the details for the 2009 Road Tour, and we can’t wait.

They’ve partnered with the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), National Hydrogen Association (NHA), and the US Fuel Cell Council to put the show on, and they plan to make 28 stops over 1,700 miles.  The vehicles will travel all the way from Chula Vista, CA to Burnaby, BC in Canada.  Check out their website for details on the dates and stop locations.  If you’re around the area, we encourage you to go and take pictures.  We might even find a prize for anyone who sends in pictures to the Insider.  

This is a very important, high-visibility event, and it couldn’t come at a better time.  We need to remind Secretary Chu and the administration that these vehicles are road-ready, desirable, and more than capable.  So congratulations to the ARB, and we’ll keep you updated on the Tour’s progress!

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:

•          A fuel cell car rally marked the official opening of Norway’s 350-mile hydrogen highway that runs between Oslo and Stavanger.  Several hydrogen stations are located between the two cities.  In the future, this roadway may be linked to Germany’s hydrogen Autobahn. 
•          The world’s first triple-hybrid fuel cell bus was presented last week in Germany by fuel cell developer, Proton Power Systems, and busmaker, Skoda.   The vehicle, which features a combination of fuel cells, batteries and ultra-capacitors, will be placed in operation in Prague in mid-2009.   
•          Mercedes-Benz has announced it will begin small-scale production of its B-class fuel cell vehicle by the end of 2009. Mercedes’ new Citaro FuelCELL hybrid bus will also be debuted in Vienna in June.  
•          Honda and Toyota plan to continue development of fuel cell vehicles, in spite of Department of Energy fuel cell vehicle program cuts.  
•          Japan’s government has committed up to $50 million to support hydrogen infrastructure development in up to five regions of Japan. 
•          Two Hydrogenics fuel cell-powered hybrid MidiBuses have been placed in service in Herten, Germany.  Ten Hydrogenics’ fuel cell hybrid MidiBuses are now deployed in Europe. 
•          The city of Hamburg will work in partnership with Daimler, Shell, Total and Vattenfall Europe to accelerate the expansion of a clean vehicle fleet and development of hydrogen fueling stations.  Hydrogen pumps will be added to four public filling stations, and Daimler will expand the city’s fuel cell bus fleet to 10 vehicles and add 20 Mercedes-Benz B-Class fuel cell cars. Daimler sees a potential for 500-1000 fuel cell powered vehicles by 2015 in Hamburg. 

Let’s hope Congress will reinstate funding to the hydrogen program so the United States doesn’t have to play catch up to Europe, Japan and China.  Many of the major fuel cell manufacturers are based here in the U.S., too.

It’s been an interesting 30 days.  On April 9, Honda’s wondrous FCX Clarity was named the World Green Car of the Year at the New York International Auto Show.  Less than a month later, on May 7, Energy Secretary Chu proposed eliminating the program designed to make sure the U.S. reaps the environmental and energy security benefits of fuel cell vehicles, and that U.S. companies can meet the competition with their own models.

Now that the budget is out, word is circulating that the Chu proposal to cut $100 million from the hydrogen-fuel cell budget came at the last minute.  The President’s Office of Management and Budget had approved full funding for the hydrogen program, but proposed cuts in nuclear and coal programs.  The Department of Energy appealed, and proposed to move the money out of hydrogen and into those clean, green, benign pathways of coal and nuclear power.  Go figure.

But it’s not that simple.  Dr. Chu made it clear that he believes in the battery pathway for vehicles.  The benefits of this pathway depend largely on “greening” the grid, which will take decades.  Meantime we still get more than half our electricity from coal in the U.S.   The Energy Information Administration, a DOE agency, estimates we will still be getting half (47%) of our power from coal in 2030 and the amount of coal fired electricity will grow by 20% over the next 20 years.

As an advocate for EVs in the wars in California in the 1990’s I can also say that battery vehicles are tough to sell to consumers.   Yes, they ought to be easier.  And I still believe battery EVs can fill an important market niche.  Maybe something has changed that justifies Chu’s fresh optimism.  But until the battery advocates all start buying battery EVs I’ll be a skeptic.

Bob Rose, Executive Director, US Fuel Cell Council

PS, you can find a joint statement from the US Fuel Cell Council and the National Hydrogen Association on this budget proposal here.  

Hi everyone! Hope your May is off to a good start.  Today, I’d like to share with you several fuel cell - supportive comments from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers as relayed by their Director of Research, Dr. Kathryn Clay.  

Dr. Clay recently gave a testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, and had some really great things to say about the possiblities of fuel cell vehicles.  Her whole testimony can be found here, but here’s a taste of her message:

Meeting our national goals of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and reducing our reliance on foreign oil will require the development of a suite of technologies. Responding to this challenge, automakers are leaders in research and development investment -total R&D investment by the industry was $79 billion in 2007, up 8 percent from the previous year. Automakers invest in a diverse array of vehicle technologies. There is no “silver bullet,” or one right answer, to what the autos of the future should look like. In the coming decades, the vehicle fleet will likely be much more diverse technologically, with growing proportions of flex fuel, clean diesel, fuel cell, hydrogen internal combustion engine, hybrid electric and pure electric vehicles.  

Sound familiar anyone? She goes on to talk about the successes of the DOE H2 and Fuel Cell Learning Demonstration program, and encourages the committee to continue to support this effort.  

She concludes by saying “We look forward to working with the [DOE] to advance a diverse array of vehicle technologies.  In doing so, we will position our industry to be at the cutting edge of the new clean energy economy.”  We couldn’t agree with Dr. Clay more.