Last week we attended the National Science Teachers Association’s national conference in Philly. Scroll down on our Twitter page to see the pics we took of Bill Nye the Science Guy checking out our booth and watch this video of the Horizon Fuel Cell RC car running on a fuel cell and zipping through the aisles!

On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a Senate briefing on energy infrastructure for fuel cell electric vehicles. The briefing began with preliminary remarks from Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii. Senator Akaka is an important fuel cell supporter and has been influential in introducing and promoting hydrogen legislation in the House and Senate for decades. In the Senator’s mind, hydrogen is the key to the United States achieving energy independence and asserting its leadership. He believes that we are on the threshold of a huge new movement and that we should be excited to take part.

The first presenter was Dr. C.E. Thomas of the National Hydrogen Association. Dr. Thomas outlined a simulation of multiple vehicle types operated over 100 years. The simulation showed that fuel cell vehicles had the best results and would be required in order to meet greenhouse gas and oil reduction targets.

Next up was Sascha Simon from the Advanced Product Planning Group of Mercedes-Benz USA. He talked briefly about Mercedes-Benz’s fuel cell technology roadmap, which is starting with the introduction of the B-Class vehicle in mid-2010. He then went on to describe Germany’s plans for building a hydrogen infrastructure and how cooperation will hopefully allow for a rapid increase in hydrogen fueling stations there.

Representing American auto makers was Charles Freese, the executive Director of Fuel Cell Activities at General Motors. Freese explained Project Driveway, GM’s fuel cell feasibility study. The study turned out to be a huge success, with 119 vehicles used, many as personal vehicles. Throughout the study, the vehicles underwent over 16,000 refueling events, survived through three winters with temperatures as low as -20, and even demonstrated the ability of a fuel cell vehicle to safely survive a collision (Although the last one was not part of the plans). Freese mentioned the ambitious hydrogen infrastructure plans of Germany and Japan, and stated that there really isn’t any reason the United States can’t do the same things.

Last up was Michael McGowan from the Linde Group. He showcased some of the hydrogen fueling stations his group has installed and described some of the advances in construction they have made recently. While earlier stations were limited by how much hydrogen the stations could produce and deliver, the latest stations are only limited by how quickly the driver can get out and perform the fueling process.

Ultimately, it was a very informative briefing. There are certainly plenty of challenges ahead, but with a little bit of effort, we can overcome them to make hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell vehicles a reality.

Halfway through the 8^th Fuel Cell Expo in Tokyo, one can sense a palpable uptick in activity and optimism compared to the 2009 show.  This time not just industry, but government, appears to be driving interest.

The most astounding news comes out of Korea.  A new residential fuel cell program driven by deep government cost share has a goal of 10,000 units installed by 2012 and 2 million units by 2020.  Federal and local support in 2010 amounts to 90 percent of the purchase price.  The percentage from government will decline over the next 10 years as volume increases and unit costs decline.  Korea already has an aggressive fuel cell power generation initiative and aims to capture jobs as part of the deal.

In Japan, five residential fuel cell manufacturers have formed a marketing partnership called ENE-FARM, complete with advertising on television, in print and even on the subway.  Sales of about 4,000 units, supported by government cost share, are moderately ahead of estimates. Kunihiro Nishizaki, whose title has changed from PEM Research Manager at Tokyo Gas to PEM Appliance Development Manager, told us the durability challenge has been cracked.

Tokyo gas guarantees 40,000 hours, 4,000 on-off cycles or 10 years, and hopes to push the guarantee to 50,000 or even 60,000 hours.  These numbers are at least twice what experts said was achievable by PEM systems only a few years ago.  Japan’s government deserves praise for its willingness to embrace a long term program of support for R&D, Demonstration and early commercialization.  In the US we are really good at supporting research but still learning the patience needed to stick with technologies all the way to the marketplace.

There is residential action in Europe as well.  Germany’s NOW program includes installation of about 800 residential units by 2012, and the UK government announced a per-kilowatt hour payment for any home generation system, including fuel cells (the range is between 10 pence and 13 pence); the program will be evaluated after the first 12,000 units are installed.

The day before the conference brought another big piece of news.  The auto industry, backed by Japan’s energy retailers, unveiled a plan to install 1,000 hydrogen fueling stations to support 2 million fuel cell vehicles by 2025.  Those numbers are reasonably consistent with the estimates of the US National Research Council in 2008. Industry is organized under the Fuel Cell Commercialization Group of Japan. It may be too much for the government all at once but it is clear the government has already indicated its interest. Two officials spoke at the unveiling.

As for me, I delivered my very first speech on fuel cells that focused entirely on markets and business cases rather than on technology development and potential benefits. I am interested to see what the rest of the show will bring.

- Bob Rose -

Today is our second day at the very busy FC EXPO in Japan.  The organizers estimated about 8,000 attendees yesterday just for the fuel cell portion of the show, but there are many more for the concurrent PV/Solar and Battery expos.  One great thing they do at this event is to combine the floors and halls for all of the concurrent shows.  Attendees are allowed to wander thoughout all of them for no charge, which gives the fuel cell exhibitors a much larger audience (estimated at 27,000 for yesterday), as well as ensuring we are not simply “preaching to the choir.”  We had several good discussions with attendees who came for the solar show, but were also interested in fuel cells. 

In our travels through Tokyo, we have noticed that fuel cells seem to be more recognized than we are used to in the US.  There are even stamps you can purchase at the post offices with fuel cells on them.  Commercials for a residential system called Ene-Farm play on the subway trains, and people we have talked to on the streets have recognized the name.  We rode a fuel cell bus over the the conference center this morning, and the other passengers seemed to be impressed. 

We are taking lots of pictures and will upload a few soon, but meanwhile, please take a look at the next post, which is a more informational update on what we have learned while at the show.  Arigato!