Fuel Cell Nation

Electrolysis Suggestions for US DOE

In my recent blog post DOE Electrolysis Working Group Meeting, I described the Fall 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cells Technology (FCT) Water Electrolysis Working Group Meeting. Industry, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and DOE participated. The aim of the Water Electrolysis Working Group, inaugurated in May 2007, is to bring industry, academia, and national laboratories together to overcome the technical barriers to commercializing electrolysis technology for the production of hydrogen for transportation and industrial use.

The Electrolysis Working Group has been tasked with helping to improve the Electrolysis sections of the current DOE Multi-Year Program Plan, which can be found at: DOE MYPP Hydrogen Production, 2011 Interim Update. The complete Interim MYPP/MYRDD can be found at: U.S. DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Program Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan.

If you have any suggestions that you'd like me to forward to the Electrolysis Working Group, feel free to leave a comment on this post. If you'd prefer to not have your suggestion be visible as a comment, please ask, and I will only forward it privately to the DOE.

Renewable Energy Storage Webcast

There will be a Renewable Energy Storage Webcast on Friday, December 09, 2011 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM - EST on G+. It will involve a live discussion with Dr. Woodrow Clark (co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, along with his colleagues on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Matt Fronk (ex-General Motors), Henry Gnacke (ex-GM, current Board Member of Hydrogenics Corp.) and Dr. Byron McCormick (ex-GM).

They will discuss:

• Current demand and outlook for energy storage
• Hydrogen storage overview: technology and current economics
• Relative merits of hydrogen vs. other storage options
• Government policy and incentive programs

The announcement says:

"Utility scale energy storage will be crucial to the future success of renewable energy generation, yet the economics of energy storage remain to be proven. Hydrogen storage, which has made significant inroads in Europe, is now being explored as a cost effective technology in North America."

See you there!

Lynntech Spins-off FuelCellsEtc

FuelCellsEtc produces Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEA), Catalyst-Coated Membranes (CCM), Gas Diffussion Electrodes (GDE) and other fuel cell-related materials that were formerly sold by Lynntech's Commercial Fuel Cell Components Division. I've seen the following pair of headlines describing the formation of this company:

October 18, 2011: FuelCellsEtc has acquired Lynntech’s Commercial Fuel Cell Components (CFCC) Division.

And:

October 18, 2011: Lynntech Spins-off Commercial Fuel Cell Components Division as FuelCellsEtc.

I know it is a small point, but was it a spin-off or a purchase? I'm always interested in the details of how companies start. As they say, enquiring minds want to know...

One small clue is that FuelCellsEtc registered their domain on January 11, 2009. So it appears they had been planning the transaction for some time prior to the press release. That means it was almost a three-year quiet roll-out.

A second clue to this slow build up is that twtrland.com reports that @FuelCellsEtc has been active on Twitter since January 11, 2010.

And on LinkedIn, I found a notice for the 2010 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition October 18, 2010 - October 21, 2010, where Daniel Westerheim (Founder at FuelCellsEtc) said "Our booth number has changed to B128..."

In any event, regardless of whether it was a spin-out or a sale, I wish them a belated congratulations, and I hope they make a go of it! (And yes, I follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter.)

Daniel Westerheim (Founder at FuelCellsEtc). Our booth number has changed to B128

Wordle Word Cloud

Here's a Word Cloud I just made for Fuel Cell Nation at Wordle. I guess I talk about hydrogen...