The Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter: Solar Water Splitting: Solar-Thermochemical H2 is Investigated by Germans, Canadians, Florida Lab

This story courtesy of The Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter, November 2004

Solar Water Splitting: Solar-Thermochemical H2 is Investigated by Germans, Canadians, Florida Lab

COLOGNE - Taking another crack at a concept first tried some thirty years ago, researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) here have produced hydrogen by thermochemically splitting steam via concentrated sunlight.

Gov. Schwarzenegger Opens H2 Station at LA Airport, Refuels H2 I.C. Hummer

LOS ANGELES - Hydrogen moved another small step closer to everyday reality with the opening of a commercial-style hydrogen fueling station at Los Angeles International Airport last month.

PolyFuel Announces Lower-Cost, Higher Output Fuel Cell Membrane Material

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - PolyFuel, the four-year-old startup fuel cell membrane developer here, has unveiled what it calls a breakthrough hydrocarbon-based membrane material early last month that the company says should go a long way toward significantly cutting the, so far, prohibitively high costs of fuel cell power plants.

Big Chinese Turnout, Advanced Swiss, U.S. Concepts Highlight Shanghai Bibendum

SHANGHAI - A snappy French-Swiss fuel cell lightweight prototype with a 250-mile range, a Ford hydrogen i.c. engine with lean NOX Trap aftertreatment; Peugeot-Citroen’s quirky Quark, and a futuristic Chinese three-wheeler running on hydrogen peroxide were among the highlights of this year’s Challenge Bibendum, the first time the event was run in Asia.

Silicon-Ammonia Combination is Proposed as Hydrogen Carrier Technology

FRANKFURT - A German specialist in inorganic chemistry is proposing an innovative hydrogen energy system in which silicon made from common sand functions as hydrogen energy carrier - a “tailor-made” link between decentralized renewable energy production and a hydrogen infrastructure.

DoE News: DoE Sec’y Abraham Announces $75 Million in Hydrogen R&D Funding

WASHINGTON, DC - Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham last month announced the U.S. Energy Department has selected 36 lead organizations and their partners to receive more than $75 million in research projects to support the President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative.

Briefly Noted: Large FC System Survey

In the latest of its series of surveys, the “Fuel Cell Today” Internet portal says a grand total of slightly more than 700 large stationary fuel cell systems - more than 10 kW - have been installed worldwide since the 1970s.