Four Council members made presentations: Plug Power, GM, Daimler and Air Products.  The participants discussed their individual efforts to bring technology to the marketplace. They also used the time to push back on recent criticism that fuel cells and hydrogen are technologies that are still far from commercialization.

First, Plug Power discussed their material handling and power generating equipment for business and residential use.  With particular focus on their forklift products, they demonstrated how their products are lowing GHG emissions, providing customers with superior equipment while lowering energy and operating costs.

Next, GM and Daimler provided participants with a look into plans to develop fuel cells for transportation applications.   Both automakers discussed progress made to date, approach to overcoming the hydrogen infrastructure and the need for continued partnership with the federal government.  The companies agreed that even if the U.S. government scaled back their investments in fuel cell and hydrogen work, programs in countries overseas will continue.

Finally, Air Products made a presentation on hydrogen availability now and in the future.  They also discussed how utilizing hydrogen as a transportation fuel could lower greenhouse gas emissions and give adopters flexibility to use domestic feedstocks.

The briefing, held in conjunction with a similar briefing held in the Senate by the NHA, was one more way the USFCC is working with their members and allied organizations to try and restore funding to the 2010 DOE budget.

WASHINGTON, DC - National organizations representing health, environmental and energy policy interests joined four national trade associations today in calling for the restoration of the federal hydrogen and fuel cell research and deployment program.

“Fuel cells are essential to achieving national goals for energy security, sustainability and global competitiveness,” the organizations wrote in a letter to the House and Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee leadership.

The seven groups are the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM), American Lung Association (ALA), Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), The Stella Group, Ltd, the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) and the U.S. Fuel Cell Council (USFCC).

The Obama Administration’s 2010 Department of Energy (DOE) budget proposes to cut the federal hydrogen fuel cell research and deployment budget by more than two thirds, or $130 million, eliminating funds for the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle program and market transformation programs.

The organizations wrote that “attaining our national goal of sustainable transportation will require a diverse portfolio of advanced vehicles. Fuel cell vehicles should be part of our portfolio.”

“Industry, academic researchers, and the Department of Energy, working together, have achieved substantial success in addressing technology, infrastructure and cost challenges. Real world data collected by DOE and others confirms that fuel cell vehicles are inherently low in smog-causing emissions, cut carbon emissions by more than half and achieve nearly 60% efficiency, which is two to three times the fuel economy of comparable combustion vehicles,” they wrote.

“We need to maintain momentum in the hydrogen fuel cell pathway…We urge you to maintain U.S. leadership in developing and deploying fuel cell transportation by restoring fuel cell funding to FY 2009 levels,” they wrote.

The full text of the letter is available here or via email upon request.

Also, it’s linked on twitter, but we want to make sure you’ve seen this great article: http://bit.ly/DaCmv.   Enjoy.  

Energy Secretary Chu has recently recommended that the federal fuel cell vehicle program be cut from the 2010 federal budget, believing that fuel cell vehicle technology and the hydrogen infrastructure are not yet ready for deployment.  The secretary would instead shift the Department of Energy (DOE) focus, and funding, to R&D of vehicles with more “short-term” promise, such as plug-in hybrids. 

But the reality is that - in the US alone - there are already 140 fuel cell cars leased to consumers.  These vehicles have accumulated 85,000 hours of operation and have been driven more than 1.9 million miles.  In addition, some northern California transit agencies are operating fuel cell buses in transit service, with more being added soon. 

So far, no auto manufacturer-produced plug-in battery vehicles are operating on America’s roadways and none are under demonstration evaluation by the federal government.  To be ready for consumers, advanced vehicle batteries will require lots of research, development and demonstration time, as well as technological breakthroughs, to attain good reliability and performance, decrease cost and reduce the significant battery size and weight.

Fuel cell vehicles are much farther along the development cycle than plug-in vehicle batteries, having made major strides in reliability, performance and cost-reduction and attaining significant real-world roadway demonstration time.  Hydrogen and fuel cells have met or exceeded nearly all of the technical milestones set out by US DOE and are on a path towards commercialization within the next 5-10 years. 

These road-ready fuel cell vehicles surprise people by looking and performing like today’s cars.  They are roomy and comfortable.  They accelerate quickly.  They are safe.  Refueling takes just a few minutes.  Plus they get more than 250-miles per tank and can achieve above 50 mpg (the Honda Clarity is EPA certified at 72 mpg).  Fuel cell vehicles operate at nearly 60% energy efficiency and produce absolutely no harmful emissions.

Additionally, hydrogen fuel is available nationwide today and is cost competitive with gasoline on a pennies-per-mile basis.  Hydrogen from natural gas is clean, energy efficient and low carbon, and opens the door to renewable and other low carbon sources. More than two dozen hydrogen stations are already open in California and getting hydrogen to American drivers as fuel cell vehicles enter the marketplace will cost a small fraction of the cost of maintaining today’s gasoline infrastructure. 

Terminating the federal fuel cell vehicle program - just as the technology is beginning to mature and commercialization is in sight - is counterproductive to our country’s goals of energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.  GM, Honda, Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen all plan to continue their fuel cell vehicle development, with Toyota recently announcing that they anticipate commercialization of their fuel cell vehicle by 2015 or sooner. 

To prepare for our hydrogen future, continued government funding and strong clean vehicle policies are needed to support hydrogen infrastructure development and further fuel cell refinements.  Combining government funding and guidance with industry investment and know-how, these technologies can be brought to commercialization and cost-competitiveness much faster than when industry works alone.

Importantly, a recent National Academies of Science report concluded that, “the greatest possible reductions in greenhouse gases would occur if biofuels, fuel-efficient conventional vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles are all pursued simultaneously, rather than seen as competitors.”  So let’s not short-change fuel cell vehicles.  We will need a variety of clean propulsion technologies.  They all need our attention today in order to be ready for our clean driving future.

If you want links and resources to include in your letter, just let us know!

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! 

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!

•          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.

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.