DOE announces $41.9 million investment into fuel cell technology
Honda FCX Clarity - Click above for a high-res gallery
The Feds aren't done with hydrogen just yet. In an effort to "[lay] the foundation for a green energy economy," the Department of Energy has just announced a $41.9 million dollar investment in fuel cell technology using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (a.k.a. the Stimulus Bill). The first industries expected to benefit from this funding will be emergency backup power systems and material handling applications, better known as forklifts. The DOE forecasts nearly 1,000 new fuel cell systems will be deployed immediately.
This investment will also make possible the development and demonstration of a 3-5kW solid oxide fuel cell auxiliary power unit for commercial class 8 trucks, made possible by a $2.4 million grant to bankrupt auto parts supplier Delphi. It's hoped that these investments will help accelerate commercial fuel cell applications and stimulate new jobs. Of course, this investment is a small fraction of the $2-plus billion in funding for advanced battery technology. See the full press release after the break.
Gallery: LA 2007: 2009 Honda FCX Clarity
[Source: Department of Energy]
PRESS RELEASE:
Secretary Chu Announces $41.9 Million to Spur Growth of Fuel Cell Markets
WASHINGTON, DC - To expand the use of clean and renewable energy sources and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced $41.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for fuel cell technology.
These efforts will accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fuel cells and will create jobs in fuel cell manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and support services. The new funding will improve the potential of fuel cells to provide power in stationary, portable and specialty vehicle applications, while cutting carbon emissions and broadening our nation's clean energy technology portfolio.
"The investments we're making today will help us build a robust fuel cell manufacturing industry in the United States," said Secretary Chu. "Developing and deploying the next generation of fuel cells will not only create jobs – it will help our businesses become more energy efficient and productive. We are laying the foundation for a green energy economy."
The $41.9 million will support immediate deployment of nearly 1,000 fuel cell systems for emergency backup power and material handling applications (e.g., forklifts) that have emerged as key early markets in which fuel cells can compete with conventional power technologies. Additional systems will be used to accelerate the demonstration of stationary fuel cells for combined heat and power in the larger residential and commercial markets.
The increase in manufacturing volume in key early markets will also bring costs down and encourage the growth of a domestic supplier base. A variety of technologies will be developed and deployed, including polymer electrolyte, solid oxide and direct-methanol fuel cells.
The funding includes:
* $41.9 million from President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund 13 projects to deploy fuel cells – helping to build a consumer base for U.S. fuel cell manufacturers.
* Approximately $72.4 million in cost-share funding from industry participants-for a total of nearly $114.3 million. This cost share demonstrates private sector commitment to developing and deploying these clean, energy efficient technologies.
For more information about DOE's fuel cell activities, please visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/. A detailed, state by state list of awards is below:
Fuel Cell Market Transformation Projects
Arkansas
FedEx Freight East (Harrison, AR)
This project will deploy 35 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at FedEx's existing service center in Springfield, Missouri. Success at this service center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of FedEx's other 470 service centers. $1.3 million
California
Jadoo Power (Folsom, CA)
Jadoo, together with Acumentrics Corporation, NASCAR Media Group, Lynch Diversified Vehicles, California's Police and Fire Departments of the City of Folsom, and Airgas, Inc., will establish the environmental and cost benefits of using a 1-kW fuel cell power system to generate electricity, as opposed to traditional gas/diesel generators and lead acid battery power sources. This demonstration will provide operating data from each field unit at customer sites, as well as degradation analysis and projected system lifetime. $1.8 million
PolyFuel, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
The objective of this project is to further integrate and miniaturize the components of PolyFuel's portable power system for use in mobile computing, and analyze failure modes to increase durability. Polyfuel will also conduct a design for manufacturability and assembly review to ensure that the systems meet the cost targets for commercialization. $2.5 million
Colorado
Anheuser-Busch (St. Louis, MO)
Anheuser-Busch will deploy 23 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at their facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, demonstrating the economic benefits of large fleet conversions of forklifts from lead-acid batteries to fuel cell power units. Success in this project will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Anheuser-Busch's other 11 U.S. facilities. $1.1 million
Massachusetts
Nuvera Fuel Cells (Billerica, MA)
To accelerate market penetration of fuel cells, East Penn Manufacturing (an industrial and automotive battery manufacturer) and Nuvera will deploy 10 fuel cell forklifts in East Penn's facility in Topton, PA. Fuel will be supplied by Nuvera's natural gas reformer, storage, and dispensing system. $1.1 million
Michigan
Delphi Automotive (Troy, MI)
Delphi will develop, test and demonstrate a 3- to 5-kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) auxiliary power unit (APU) for heavy duty commercial class 8 trucks. The demonstration will improve upon Delphi's current generation SOFC technology by increasing net output power and fuel processing efficiency, decreasing heat loss and parasitic power loss, and establishing diesel fuel compatibility. $2.4 million
New York
MTI MicroFuel Cells (Albany, NY)
To accelerate fuel cell use in consumer markets, MTI will demonstrate a one-watt consumer electronics power pack. The project will focus on improving reliability to meet the standards required by the electronics market and will include testing of individual components, subsystems and complete direct methanol fuel cell systems. MTI will also develop manufacturing processes to improve product yields and reduce overall costs. $2.4 million
Plug Power, Inc. (Latham, NY)
This demonstration project will validate the durability of Plug Power's 5-kW stationary combined heat and power fuel cell system and verify its commercial readiness. Plug Power will carry out a three-year project to test its units in residential and light commercial applications in California. $3.4 million
Plug Power Inc. (Latham, NY)
This project will demonstrate the market viability of the GenCore® rack-mounted fuel cell product that provides clean and highly reliable emergency backup power. Plug Power will install and operate new systems in real-world applications at geographically-diverse sites, providing for as much as 275 kW of backup power. $2.7 million
Pennsylvania
GENCO (Pittsburgh, PA)
This project will deploy 156 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for fleets of electric lift trucks at six of GENCO's existing distribution centers (South Carolina, Pennsylvania - 3 locations, and Ohio - 2 locations). Success at these distribution centers will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of GENCO's other 109 distribution centers. $6.1 million (six awards)
Texas
Sysco of Houston (West Houston, TX)
Sysco will deploy 90 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a fleet of pallet trucks at Sysco's new distribution center in Houston, Texas, due to open in August 2009. This installation will be the first ever green field installation in the world without battery infrastructure for a pallet truck fleet. Success at this distribution center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Sysco's other 169 distribution centers. $1.2 million
Virginia
Sprint Communications (Reston, VA)
Sprint Nextel will demonstrate the viability of packaged 1-kW to 10-kW fuel cell systems with 72 hours of on-site fuel storage for backup power to communication infrastructure used by state and local first responders and by public safety answering points (911 centers). Sprint will address siting and permitting issues, and will benchmark the lifecycle costs, performance, and operational characteristics against the incumbent technologies (batteries, generators, and diesel fuel). $7.3 million
Washington
ReliOn Inc. (Spokane, WA)
ReliOn will add reliability to a utility communications network where no backup power was previously available at 25 sites throughout central and northern California. They will deploy 180 fuel cells with a new refillable 72-hour fuel system to locations across the AT&T Mobility Network. This project will provide DOE with installation, fueling logistics, and operating data for fuel cells in voice and data communications networks in mountain, desert, and urban locations. $8.6 million (two awards)
For more information about DOE's fuel cell activities, please visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jake 4:58PM (4/17/2009)
Not much complaint from me if EVs get the same or more investment. However, I'm wondering why there's a push to switch all these electric lifts to fuel cells. I thought lead acid ones are already fairly cheap (though maybe the battery replacement is the issue). I wonder how the life-cycle costs will compare with li-ion/nimh vs fuel cell lifts.
The backup generator ideas make sense though, probably the best application of fuel cells.
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bob 6:31PM (4/17/2009)
Refuel time is less, and yes, it supposedly is cheaper, according to at least one source:
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/news/articles/2009-04/Nestl--Waters-converts-to-fuel-c
Chris M 9:31PM (4/17/2009)
Compared to standard battery powered forklifts, purchase cost of H2FC forklifts is considerably higher, and H2 fuel cells require more maintenance and have a shorter lifespan, and the "fuel" cost is several times higher as well.
But a report, sponsored by the fuel cell makers, claimed that the total cost would be less, by wildly exaggerating the labor needed to plug in battery operated forklifts for recharging, and exaggerating the labor needed to swap batteries. That in turn inflated the labor costs involved for battery operated forklifts. Funny thing is, that report didn't pay much attention to the labor needed to refuel the H2FC forklifts, and of course it didn't consider the replacement cost of the fuel cell.
gorr 5:33PM (4/17/2009)
I don't understand them. I said last week that it's the production of gazeous compressed hydrogen put in tanks that remain to devellop.
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jpm 6:14PM (4/17/2009)
WTF is this bullshit? We've already wasted a ton of money on HFC with no benefit to the citizen. Look how well CA's hydrogen highway turned out. And the gov't continues to dump money into HFC because....? Oh, the big corporations have the politicians in their pocket. Disgusting. Man I'm getting fed up with this bullshit.
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Gordio 6:26PM (4/17/2009)
This has pork written all over it more than a bridge to nowhere.
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Chris M 6:55PM (4/17/2009)
I don't know where they got the "1,000 fuel cell forklifts" from, the list they had there only indicated 304. Maybe they were adding in all the other fuel cell projects, including stationary power?
The most intriguing entry on the list was the Delphi Automotive solid oxide fuel cell for truck auxiliary power - it is to be fueled by diesel, not H2!
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Speculawyer 7:37PM (4/17/2009)
I think this is a token investment into the fuel cell garbage. EVs & batteries will probably be getting billions in the next couple months. C'mon Steven Chu, don't disappoint me. You are a smart guy that knows the technology.
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vfx 10:23PM (4/17/2009)
I agree it's a token. That way they can say "we spread it around". Politics. Hydrogen is dead and Chu knows it.
jharlan 12:28AM (4/18/2009)
Just throw that taxpayer money away! Invest in a technology that is only wanted by 1 tenth of a percent of the people on the looney edge, is obscenely expensive and takes more energy to produce than you can get out of it.
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Lad 10:26PM (4/17/2009)
People:
Please understand that H2 is a red herring and a way to funnel federal funds to selected special interest groups; H2 was first introduced by the Bush administration and promoted by the AAM (the auto manufacturers lobbying firm) as an attempt to slow down the development of electric automobiles and continue pumping out ICEs. It was promoted shortly after GM crushed their EV-1s. Only $4 gasoline and the failure of the greedy large banks stirred the demand for electric cars.
If you want to know why H2 is not a practical solution take the time to read the following: http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-hydrogen-hoax
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Tohe 7:07AM (4/18/2009)
This is a shame and it certainly doesn't help convey the efficacy of the Recovery Act, or that of those who preside it, like Mr. Chung, the Vice President and ultimately the President. I campaigned long and hard for you Mr. President, stop this wasteful nonsense.
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Tim 9:59AM (4/18/2009)
OINK!
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