Nuvera Fuel Cells

Representative Niki Tsongas organized an event on Monday titled “Green, Clean and Sustainable – Economic Development for the 21st Century. 

At the meeting, which attracted about 75 people, she spoke about her desire to partner with green energy companies in the fifth districtof Massachusetts, to do what she can to help companies like ours grow both in market share and in employees.  An interesting bon mot that she offered to the audience: the green sector in Massachusetts employs over 14,000 people!  She also offered “As we seek solutions to our nation’s energy crisis, there are several innovative employers right in our backyard that are producing the alternative energy technologies which will help limit our foreign oil dependence and the harmful effects of climate change, while simultaneously creating outstanding green collar jobs for residents of the Fifth District.  The Merrimack Valley is fertile ground for the further growth and development of these jobs and this economic development conference that I am hosting will bring together job creation and environmental experts with leaders in our communities to discuss the steps that should be taken in order to encourage the further growth of this industry in our region.”

Bill Mitchell, our vice president of sales and marketing, participated in a panel titled “Green in the 5th – what did it take?” discussing Nuvera’s move last June from Cambridge to Billerica. On the panel with Bill were other area leaders in the solar, power electronics, and filtration industries.  The general consensus was that Massachusetts is a great place to live, and to attract and find talented people due to the numeraous universities inthe area.

The keynote speaker was Secretary Ian A. Bowles, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affiars who among other points of discussion, hinted at an upcoming clean energy bill that would be announced in the Commonwealth - more to come on this issue soon!.

Charlie Myers is currently in Hannover, Germany, attending the annual Hannover Fair.

His participation in the Fair is in support of Hoppecke, a German based forklift battery manufacturer that has integrated our PowerFlow fuel cell system into a battery tray to make a hybrid fuel cell battery pack for forklift trucks. Hoppecke is exhibiting as part of the North Rhine Westphalia booth, which showcases the German region’s varied “future energy” activities, including Hoppecke’s hybrid fuel cell battery pack.

Charlie sends the following comment on the picture above:

“How to keep busy at a show and still feel at home. Yesterday’s food in the NRW booth was based on an American theme (check out the hot dogs!) and so were the decorations.”

The cars are coming, where’s the hydrogen?
By Bill Mitchell, Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Nuvera Fuel Cells

Through 3 days of keynote addresses and meetings at the National Hydrogen Association meeting (including a ride and drive where we were allowed to put the Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle and BMW Hydrogen 7-series to the test on a small rally track), one of the overarching themes that started to emerge on the fuel cell vehicle front was: The cars are coming – where is the hydrogen?

On the first day, Paul Brubaker, Administrator of Research and Innovative Technology Administration for the U.S. Department of Transportation challenged all of us with a simple question: Why not?  That is, why not make the required investment in hydrogen and fuel cells to move our country away from fossil fuels.  In the 1950’s, President Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act that resulted in our interstate highway system.  In the 1960’s, President Kennedy enabled research to put a man on the moon with the Apollo program.  In the words of Mr. Brubaker, both of these programs were expensive at the time, but in retrospect, have forever changed our society for the better.  Investment in hydrogen and fuel cells will be viewed similarly in the future.

On the second day, Dr. Mary Nichols, the Chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board discussed a recent decision at CARB that will mandate fuel cell vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrids.  According to CARB, the mandate will ensure that in the 2012 to 2014 timeframe, that a total fleet of 7,500 fuel cell vehicles (5,357 if OEM’s can make the cars travel at least 300 miles on a tank of hydrogen) will be running around the streets.  This will be augmented by no less than 58,333 plug-in hybrids.  During her talk, she indicated that CARB is still studying how to “mandate” a hydrogen infrastructure to support the fuel cell vehicle rollout.

Fast-forward to today, and a few speeches stood out as a harbinger of things to come.  First, McKinley Addy of the California Energy Commission (CEC)  made a special announcement that the CEC has approved a budget of $120 Million per year for an 8 year period (total of $ 1 Billion) to help foster the commercialization and adoption of alternative fuels and clean energy technologies, including fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen refilling stations.

Second, Larry Burns, the Vice President of R&D and Strategic Planning at General Motors discussed GM’s perspective on hydrogen. Mr. Burns started by stating that the potential societal and consumer benefits of fuel cell technology are clear and compelling, and that no other technology offers this exciting potential.  In fact, he stated that GM has not uncovered a single issue yet to suggest that mass volume of fuel cell vehicles cannot ultimately be attained.  With that being the good news, Mr. Burns continued his talk by reaching out and challenging the energy providers stating that what is urgently needed is sufficient investment by energy providers to assure auto companies that the required hydrogen infrastructure will be in place when we deploy our next generation of fuel cell electric vehicles. In the view of GM, for the equivalent cost of 2 tanks of gasoline for every car in the U.S., we could deploy a hydrogen infrastructure that would put hydrogen refilling stations within 2 miles of 70% of our population. In closing his talk, he stated that together, we must act rather than debate, create the future rather than try to predict it, and solve the challenges we face now rather than handing these off to future generations.

As the meeting draws to a close, I feel enthusiastic about the future of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen.  I never did get to see Governor Schwarzenegger to deliver the fuel cells personally, but there is always next time.

By James Cross, Vice President, Technology and Product Development
Nuver Fuel Cells 

The NHA Conference is a very impressive event, building on 18 years of experience.  It brings together a diverse mix of stakeholders, spanning the spectrum from the impassioned to the cynical, the romantic to the practical, corporate executives to students, from industry as well as the general public, and from around the globe.  

In honor of April “Fuels” Day, I wanted to take a moment to note a few points on which the industry perspective also exhibit some diversity!
 

How far does a fuel cell vehicle go on a tank full of hydrogen?   One of the fuel cell vehicle information cards reports 290 miles, another a whopping 480 miles!  DOE says 190 miles on the accepted duty cycle (if you don’t cheat in the backseat or trunk!). 

How long can a customer accept to refuel?   Automakers say 3 minutes –but for light tanks at 70 MPa, a full fill overheats the tank, so expensive and energy wasteful H2 precooling is needed.  One company says if you go to 4 minutes, the precooling requirement goes away.  DOE has a goal of 5 minutes.

What is the reference price of natural gas for hydrogen costing?  One study used commercial rates and quoted $14+/MMBtu, another $6.50/MMBtu.  One suggested coal should be looked at – guess which!   
 

What is the penalty value for a vehicle when the refueling entails customer inconvenience?    Several prior studies indicate that for hydrogen availability at 10% of existing fueling stations, the offset to vehicle pricing would be ~$1000.  A new report says up to $5000!

What’s right and what isn’t?  We can’t tell yet.  This is an industry in the making, and while its architects are energetic in debate, particular to their individual analyses, and emphatic in their marketing claims, they and we remain largely aligned in spirit and sense of purpose.

Tomorrow morning is the keynote session where hydrogen companies and automakers share their perspectives on hydrogen infrastructure – Bill and I will be in the front row, ringside!   Later in the afternoon, I’ll be moderating the session on Fuel Cells:  Improvements & Analysis.

By Gus Block, Marketing Director
Nuvera Fuel Cells

 While Bill Mitchell was living it up at the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) Annual Conference near California’s wine country on Sunday, describing how the hydrogen future is here and now, Jim Rubright of East Penn Manufacturing, Danielle Andre and I were performing yeoman’s (and woman’s) duty at the Edison Electric Institute National Accounts Workshop at Disney World in Orlando. A tough job, but as the saying goes, somebody’s got to do it.

Unlike the NHA meeting, where talk of early markets for hydrogen and fuel cells is a bit like feeding red meat to the lions, few attendees at the Edison Electric event have any idea that fuel cell technology is here today and that it can help their organizations save money, reduce their carbon footprint, and help their distribution and manufacturing operations become more productive. But all of these are opportunities that relate directly to the topics and challenges being discussed and brainstormed here.

Many of the people that come to this well-attended annual workshop program are energy managers for major retailers, such as Nordstrom’s, Wal-Mart, and SuperValu. These are the individuals who are responsible for monitoring energy consumption within their corporations and for finding ways of conserving energy and switching to cleaner sources of power. One of the things I learned from the first full day of the workshop was what jacks-of-all-trade they need to be. They face a huge array of energy-related issues that requires familiarity with complex energy supply and demand issues and trends, regulatory codes and standards, and thousands of technologies and programs that are designed to improve energy efficiency.

On the supply side, a major theme of this conference is that utilities need to learn how to design energy efficiency programs that are customer-friendly. During a session I attended entitled, “What National Accounts Customers Really Want from Utility Incentive Programs,” a major complaint that surfaced from customers was how difficult it is for energy managers at the corporate level to sort out the requirements of local utility programs. Easing paperwork requirements and standardizing on qualifications and rules was a common theme that surfaced.

While a great deal of energy is consumed in the material handling operations of any Big Box retailer, their energy buyers are generalists who may have little direct experience with the forklifts and warehouses within their own companies. Perhaps that is why we got more than a few quizzical looks from passersby in the exhibit hall, where East Penn and Nuvera were showing off our fuel cell-powered lift trucks and hydrogen refueling dispenser – equipment that may be unlike any attendees here have seen before. It was up to Danielle, Jim and I to make the connection between fuel cells and the issues of concern to them. For those energy professionals who were sufficiently intrigued to stop and chat with us, their interest was piqued – for some, you could almost see the wheels beginning to turn inside their heads. We’re hoping to hear from more than a few of them once we all return home from the Magic Kingdom.