- Email: [email protected]
Funding for TreadStone plate, hydrogen processing technologies
NEWS These highly efficient, micro combined heat and power (mCHP) units will be deployed by Nuon for its residential customers to generate both electricity and heating in their homes. CFCL says that power density advances have enabled it to increase the output from each of its stacks to 2 kW of electricity with minimal additional balance-of-plant cost. This significantly reduces the unit’s cost per kW and increases its CO2 savings. A 2 kW unit provides ample power for the average household’s baseload requirements, as well as additional power for export to the grid. A 2 kW unit can save up to 3 tonnes of CO2 per year, compared with existing ways of generating electricity. CFCL has frozen the design of its stack and manufacturing processes for the Heinsberg plant. CFCL first announced plans to construct a volume manufacturing facility in Heinsberg in December 2006, with the aid of a grant from the Nordrhein-Westfalen regional government for the whole project of up to 3.2 million. Last summer it formed an agreement with Nuon, Remeha and De Dietrich Thermique to jointly develop an integrated mCHP unit for the residential market across the Netherlands and Belgium [FCB, September 2007]. Contact: Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd, Noble Park, Victoria, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9554 2300, www.cfcl.com.au Or contact: Ceramic Fuel Cells GmbH, Industriepark Oberbruch, Boos-Fremery-Strasse 62, D-52525 Heinsberg, Germany. Tel: +49 2452 153752, Email: germany@cfcl. com.au
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to be lighter in weight while still offering high performance. TreadStone says it enables fuel cell manufacturers to deliver lower-cost fuel cell stacks that are 40–50% lighter than those currently available, and significantly improve performance while using corrosion-resistant, commercially available metals. The technology is claimed to exceed US Department of Energy targets, and is expected to be deployable in the automotive, portable and stationary markets. The company’s HydroOSP is a one-step electrochemical system that separates, purifies and compresses hydrogen gas from a mixed gas stream containing impurities. It aims to replace traditional, more costly and complex multiplestep processes that result in hydrogen typically contaminated with hydrocarbons from lubricating oils used during the process. Its reactive separation process completely eliminates the conventional water-gas-shift reactor, and increases the hydrogen yield, says the firm. The Edison Innovation R&D Fund supports the research and development activities of New Jersey technology companies needed to commercialize an identified technology. The Technology Fellowship program aims to help move cutting-edge research from the laboratory to the market, by providing funding for up to two years to emerging high-tech companies that hire post-doctoral graduates from New Jersey research universities. Contact: TreadStone Technologies Inc, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Tel: +1 609 734 2368, www.treadstonetechnologies.com
Funding for TreadStone President Bush realigns plate, hydrogen hydrogen, fuel cell processing technologies funding for fiscal 2009
N
ew Jersey-based TreadStone Technologies has been awarded a grant worth $500 000 through the Edison Innovation R&D Fund and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology (NJCST), to support further development of the firm’s LiteCell technology, which aims to deliver lighter, high-performance PEM fuel cell stacks at a lower cost. In addition, NJCST has awarded the firm, which specializes in pivotal technologies for the hydrogen economy, a $75 000 technology fellowship grant to support the LiteCell technology and the company’s HydroOSP hydrogenprocessing system. LiteCell Technology is a patented design for a low-cost metal separator plate, which is claimed 10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
I
n the US, President Bush’s proposed federal budget for the Fiscal Year 2009 would cut funding for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies by 69%, deferring research on hydrogen production to focus instead on hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies that are needed to aid the development of a practical fuel cell vehicle by 2015. The Hydrogen Technology Program is being realigned in fiscal 2009 following the completion of the President’s original five-year, $1.2 billion funding commitment to the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. This realignment focuses the program on remaining critical-path barriers to the technology-readiness goals for 2015. Substantial increases are included for hydrogen storage R&D, to enable vehicles to have a
driving range greater than 300 miles, and for fuel cell R&D, in particular for durable lowcost polymer components. However, to provide these increases, all funding for hydrogen production is deferred, and systems analyses will continue at reduced funding levels. The FY 2009 budget request for hydrogen technology is $146.2 million, down from the $211 million in the FY 2008 appropriation, due in part to the movement of three activities – totaling $31.5 million – from the hydrogen technology program to the vehicles technology program. Projects associated with technology validation, safety and codes and standards, and education will continue and are transferred to vehicle technologies. The Fiscal Year 2009 Budget-in-Brief is online at: www.eere.energy.gov/ba/pba/pdfs/FY09_budget_brief.pdf
NHA launches education initiative, new website
I
n the US, the National Hydrogen Association’s Hydrogen Education Foundation has launched a nationwide education campaign to increase understanding about hydrogen. The initiative includes targeted public relations and a new website. ‘While many people identify hydrogen as a universal alternative fuel, in general the public does not yet understand how hydrogen can relate to them,’ says Jeffrey Serfass, president of the NHA and the Hydrogen Education Foundation. ‘The ‘H2 and You’ program is designed to help anyone grasp how hydrogen can be made and how its adoption is already having a positive impact on our lives.’ The website (www.H2andYou.org) has been designed for those wanting to learn more about hydrogen while highlighting, in laymen’s terms, new ways in which hydrogen is being used today and how these uses relate to things people really care about. The site provides answers to common questions; presents examples of market-ready ‘hydrogen products’ or systems that provide real energy; and offers video, podcasts and links to hydrogen news stories. ‘H2 and You’ also highlights current applications. For example, some cell phone transmitter towers are already using hydrogen fuel cells – made by NHA members such as Ballard Power – to supply backup power in the event of electrical outages. In the automotive sector, automakers like General Motors, Toyota, Daimler, Honda and BMW have been testing pre-commercial hydrogen vehicles. And other
April 2008
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to be lighter in weight while still offering high performance. TreadStone says it enables fuel cell manufacturers to deliver lower-cost fuel cell stacks that are 40–50% lighter than those currently available, and significantly improve performance while using corrosion-resistant, commercially available metals. The technology is claimed to exceed US Department of Energy targets, and is expected to be deployable in the automotive, portable and stationary markets. The company’s HydroOSP is a one-step electrochemical system that separates, purifies and compresses hydrogen gas from a mixed gas stream containing impurities. It aims to replace traditional, more costly and complex multiplestep processes that result in hydrogen typically contaminated with hydrocarbons from lubricating oils used during the process. Its reactive separation process completely eliminates the conventional water-gas-shift reactor, and increases the hydrogen yield, says the firm. The Edison Innovation R&D Fund supports the research and development activities of New Jersey technology companies needed to commercialize an identified technology. The Technology Fellowship program aims to help move cutting-edge research from the laboratory to the market, by providing funding for up to two years to emerging high-tech companies that hire post-doctoral graduates from New Jersey research universities. Contact: TreadStone Technologies Inc, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Tel: +1 609 734 2368, www.treadstonetechnologies.com
Funding for TreadStone President Bush realigns plate, hydrogen hydrogen, fuel cell processing technologies funding for fiscal 2009
N
ew Jersey-based TreadStone Technologies has been awarded a grant worth $500 000 through the Edison Innovation R&D Fund and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology (NJCST), to support further development of the firm’s LiteCell technology, which aims to deliver lighter, high-performance PEM fuel cell stacks at a lower cost. In addition, NJCST has awarded the firm, which specializes in pivotal technologies for the hydrogen economy, a $75 000 technology fellowship grant to support the LiteCell technology and the company’s HydroOSP hydrogenprocessing system. LiteCell Technology is a patented design for a low-cost metal separator plate, which is claimed 10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
I
n the US, President Bush’s proposed federal budget for the Fiscal Year 2009 would cut funding for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies by 69%, deferring research on hydrogen production to focus instead on hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies that are needed to aid the development of a practical fuel cell vehicle by 2015. The Hydrogen Technology Program is being realigned in fiscal 2009 following the completion of the President’s original five-year, $1.2 billion funding commitment to the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. This realignment focuses the program on remaining critical-path barriers to the technology-readiness goals for 2015. Substantial increases are included for hydrogen storage R&D, to enable vehicles to have a
driving range greater than 300 miles, and for fuel cell R&D, in particular for durable lowcost polymer components. However, to provide these increases, all funding for hydrogen production is deferred, and systems analyses will continue at reduced funding levels. The FY 2009 budget request for hydrogen technology is $146.2 million, down from the $211 million in the FY 2008 appropriation, due in part to the movement of three activities – totaling $31.5 million – from the hydrogen technology program to the vehicles technology program. Projects associated with technology validation, safety and codes and standards, and education will continue and are transferred to vehicle technologies. The Fiscal Year 2009 Budget-in-Brief is online at: www.eere.energy.gov/ba/pba/pdfs/FY09_budget_brief.pdf
NHA launches education initiative, new website
I
n the US, the National Hydrogen Association’s Hydrogen Education Foundation has launched a nationwide education campaign to increase understanding about hydrogen. The initiative includes targeted public relations and a new website. ‘While many people identify hydrogen as a universal alternative fuel, in general the public does not yet understand how hydrogen can relate to them,’ says Jeffrey Serfass, president of the NHA and the Hydrogen Education Foundation. ‘The ‘H2 and You’ program is designed to help anyone grasp how hydrogen can be made and how its adoption is already having a positive impact on our lives.’ The website (www.H2andYou.org) has been designed for those wanting to learn more about hydrogen while highlighting, in laymen’s terms, new ways in which hydrogen is being used today and how these uses relate to things people really care about. The site provides answers to common questions; presents examples of market-ready ‘hydrogen products’ or systems that provide real energy; and offers video, podcasts and links to hydrogen news stories. ‘H2 and You’ also highlights current applications. For example, some cell phone transmitter towers are already using hydrogen fuel cells – made by NHA members such as Ballard Power – to supply backup power in the event of electrical outages. In the automotive sector, automakers like General Motors, Toyota, Daimler, Honda and BMW have been testing pre-commercial hydrogen vehicles. And other
April 2008