UK unveils revised fuel cell vision, capabilities

NEWS

ultracapacitor – is the only FCV with fullcertification from both the California AirResources Board and the EnvironmentalProtection Agency for everyday commercial use.

Meanwhile, Toyota will lease an additionalFCHV to UCI’s National Fuel Cell ResearchCenter and UCD’s Institute of TransportationStudies. These FCHVs use the Toyota-developed90 kWe PEM fuel cell system in combinationwith NiMH batteries. The first pair of FCHVshave logged more than 6000 miles (9700 km)since December.

The addition of these vehicles will bring thetotal number of Toyota FCHVs on the road to18 – four with the University of California, threewith the California Fuel Cell Partnership, one atToyota Motor Sales USA, and 10 with Japanesegovernment agencies and private companies.

Contact: American Honda Motor Co Inc, Torrance,California, USA. Tel: +1 310 783 3170, www.honda.com

Or contact: Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc, Torrance,California, USA. Tel: +1 310 468 5084, www.toyota.com

Or contact: National Fuel Cell Research Center,University of California – Irvine, California, USA.Tel: +1 949 824 1999, www.nfcrc.uci.edu

Or contact: Institute of Transportation Studies,University of California – Davis, California, USA.Tel: +1 530 752 6548, Web: its.ucdavis.edu

UK unveils revised fuelcell vision, capabilitiesThe recent Grove Symposium in London sawthe unveiling of the UK’s revised nationalvision for the development of its fuel cellindustry, exploring the key elements of theroute to its achievement, and makingrecommendations for steps to enable itsdevelopment. The consultation process hasalso resulted in a Capabilities Guide of UK-based companies active in this sector.

Fuel Cells UK spent the summer invitingdiscussion and comment on a draft nationalvision – including well attended workshops inScotland, Wales and Birmingham – to obtain acoherent consensus for a national visiondocument, including drivers, enablers and goalsfor the short, medium and long term.

The vision recognizes that developing all theelements of a competitive fuel cell industry islikely to be beyond the scope of any singlecountry, so it makes more sense to build onexisting strengths, and foster internationalcollaborations. There is already a close relation-ship between the Canadian and British fuel cellcommunities, and the will to continue to buildon this in both the short and long term.

The vision also identifies several ‘next steps’for Fuel Cells UK. The first is to liaise with theLow Carbon Vehicle Partnership and the UK’sautomotive sector to establish initiatives toencourage the deployment of fuel cell vehicles. Itwill also identify and engage with key groups toensure that appropriate frameworks are in placeto encourage the development and deploymentof fuel cell distributed generation, and establish adialogue with organizations such as thegovernment’s cross-departmental EnvironmentalInnovation Advisory Group to inform govern-ment on how best to assist the fuel cell effort.

Contact: Fuel Cells UK, Tel: +44 1832 720007, Email:info@fuelcellsuk.org, www.fuelcellsuk.org

NEC improves notebookfuel cellLess than three months after unveiling aprototype fuel cell for notebook computers[FCB, August], Tokyo-based NEC claims tohave reduced the fuel cell volume by 20%while maintaining the same power output.

The size reduction of NEC’s fuel cell hasresulted in a rise in output density to 50 mW/cm2. Apart from its size (the precise details ofwhich have not been disclosed), the otherspecifications of the fuel cell remain unchanged.According to NEC, the fuel cell can deliver anaverage 14 We of power at 12 V output voltage,with a maximum of 24 We. The fuel cell weighs900 g, of which 300 g is fuel (methanol, at 10%concentration), for a total PC weight of 2 kg. Ona full 300 cm3 fuel tank, the cell can provideenough power to run a notebook PC for 5 h.

The prototype fuel cell utilizes carbon nano-horns, a form of carbon nanotubes discovered bythe company about three years ago.

NEC has reiterated its plans to launch a fuelcell powered notebook by the end of 2004,through its recently established subsidiary NECPersonal Products Ltd, and aims to achieve a40 h runtime fuel cell before the end of 2005.

Contact: NEC Personal Products Ltd, Ohta-ku, Tokyo,Japan. Tel: +81 3 5762 9555, www.necp.co.jp

Dynetek to supply 60 H2 storage systems toDaimlerChryslerCalgary-based Dynetek Industries, whichmanufactures lightweight storage cylindersfor compressed hydrogen and natural gas, isto deliver 60 of its certified 350 bar (5000 psi)

on-board hydrogen storage systems toDaimlerChrysler for its F-Cell car fleet.

Starting this year, the 60 F-Cell vehicles willbe introduced in limited customer fleets inEurope, Japan, Singapore and the US. Dynetekhas previously provided DaimlerChrysler withthe hydrogen storage systems for 30 Citaro fuelcell buses, which are to be operated in normalrevenue-service in ten major European cities.

Contact: Dynetek Industries, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.Tel: +1 403 720 0262, www.dynetek.com

Greenlight wins repeattest equipment ordersCanadian-based Greenlight Power Technol-ogies has received repeat orders totalingUS$3m for fuel cell test stations from twoleading Asian automotive customers.

In total, Greenlight – the wholly ownedsubsidiary of Hydrogenics – will provide sevenfuel cell advanced test stations (FCATS) to thetwo major – but unnamed – customers. The firstorder is for three 3 kW PEM FCATS L-Seriestest systems, and the second for three 12 kWPEM FCATS H-Series test systems and one 60kW PEM FCATS HX-Series testing station. Thestations are expected to be delivered over thenext two quarters. The orders came throughHydrogenics’ Tokyo office, which wasestablished more than three years ago.

Contact: Greenlight Power Technologies, Burnaby,BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 676 4000,www.greenlightpower.com

Euro funding for Rolls-Royce SOFC hybridThe European Commission is funding thecontinued development of hybrid solid oxidefuel cell/gas turbine technology in a pan-European program led by UK-based Rolls-Royce. The total value of the program is �10million, including contributions from the EC,Rolls-Royce and European partners.

Rolls-Royce is leading the program through itswholly owned subsidiary, Rolls-Royce Fuel CellSystems Ltd (RRFCS). Significant contributionswill be made by the Thermochemical PowerGroup at the University of Genoa in Italy, Gazde France, UK-based Morgan Crucible’sAdvanced Ceramics division, and the RisøNational Laboratory in Denmark.

RRFCS is developing an SOFC/gas turbinehybrid system fueled by natural gas for MW-sizedstationary power generation applications. This

4Fuel Cells Bulletin November 2003