A hydrogen association under the name „Hydropole“ was established on 23. November in Switzerland. The legal seat of the organization is Monthey.

(DWV press release No. 4/01 of 30. November 2001)

BMW has finished the world tour of its hydrogen cars. At Dubai, Brussels, Milan, Tokyo, and Los Angeles they were presented under different aspects. The final event was on 8. November in Berlin. Everybody mentioned safety and reliability of the vehicles. Secretary of state Wittling said for the Federal ministry of transport that BMW's engagement for hydrogen were in the same direction as the initiative „Transport Energy Strategy“ (TES). The TES partners have come to the agreement that hydrogen is the fuel with the greatest long-term potential. Wittling assured that the Federal government will continue to give support to the field, but he gave no specific sums or dates.

Federal Chancellor Schroeder as well gave a very positive statement about the initiatives by BMW. He said that they are not only ecologically, but also economically advantageous. Research and development on alternatives are the basis for tomorrow's business. If, on the other hand, countries like China or India would reach our level or motorization only approximately using fossil fuels we would probably not survive this. BMW head Milberg said that it is not important now to decide between internal combustion engine or fuel cell; the market will do this. What is important now is to make progress towards hydrogen. 

BMW and the Austrian Magna Steyr on 30. November signed a „Letter of Intent“ about the development of a hydrogen tank for the new BMW series 7. Burkhard Goeschel, responsible for BMW development, said on this occasion: „The progress towards the hydrogen society is irreversible.“

(BMW press release of 30. November 2001)

Singapore will create an infrastructure for hydrogen cars. The Economic Development Board (EDB) has signed a corresponding letter of intent with British Petroleum (bp). Gary Oliver said for bp: „You'll probably see the installation of hydrogen systems in 2003, with the construction one year ahead of the introduction of the vehicles, which could be 2004." bp will introduce the fuelling technology in one or two existing stations. Each will supply about 15 vehicles and cost between 0,5 and 1,5 M$. Oliver thinks that the conversion costs will drop that as more hydrogen refueling stations are built the cost of installing them should decline.

(Earth Vision Environmental News, 23. October 2001; s. No. 3/01 „Daimler in Singapore“)

A power station on the basis of a fuel cell is on the grid since July 2001 in the industrial area Frankfurt-Hoechst. It is based on a phosphoric acid ONSI cell running on pure hydrogen and delivering 200 kW_el and 220 kW_th in continuous operation. The station will supply Das power, heat, and cold (if necessary) for the production of one of the companies there. The hydrogen comes as byproduct from a chemical process. The operators intend to create Hesse's first hydrogen center together with DWV.

(Press release of Infraserv Hoechst of 27. November 2001; s. No. 1/97 „Fuel Cells“)

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) at Freiburg im Breisgau moved in a new building on 23. November. The house has three floors and an area of 13.000 m². The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Federal ministry for education and research contributed 17.5 M€ each to the costs. And: ISE celebrated its 20^th birthday. Hydrogen and fuel cells are an important part of its work, which is little wonder for a founder member of DWV. 

(ISE press release of 23. November 2001)

There are about 20 companies or scientific institutes in the state of Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania working on hydrogen and fuel cells or related topics. The Agency for Technology Transfer and Innovation Coast (ATI) from Rostock intends to bring them together. The start event was an innovation forum held on 13. at Rostock. Otto Ebnet, state minister for economy, sees good chances for the application of fuel cells in engines for boats, small trains, and buses and elsewhere. „This new technology is a chance for young and innovative companies to be successful in the field.“ (Ostsee Zeitung, 21. November 2001; press release of the ministry for economy of Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania of 13. November 2001)

The car supplier Webasto shifts its hydrogen research development to the city of Neubrandenburg (Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania). The ministry of economy in the state capital Schwerin states that the Webasto Thermosysteme GmbH will employ up to 80 scientists and engineers for the development of car heaters and other applications. The state supports this with a few million € from its fund for advanced technologies. (Press release of the ministry for economy of Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania of 3. December 2001)

Like this year Juergen Trittin, Federal minister for the environment, will be the patron for the Hydrogen Fair at Hamburg. It will be organized by Freesen & Partner from Duesseldorf. Company head Ines Freesen said that the continuation of patronage were an important signal. 

(Press release by Freesen & Partner of 6. December 2001; s. No. 5/01 „Expo“ und den Event calendar)

In the development of fuel cell cars Honda will concentrate on hydrogen as fuel. Reforming methanol on board is seen as uneconomical in the long term because of the technical problems. A gas tank with 350 bar maximum operating pressure is said to be the optimum in technical and marketing terms. Similar statements were heard recently by a senior Ford member, while General Motors and others still bet on on-board reforming. 

(Calstart, 7. December 2001)

Volkswagen thinks that the serial production of hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative for Diesel, gasoline, or electric vehicles is still 15 or 20 years away. Both the cells and the hydrogen are said to be still too expensive. 

(dpa, 13. December 2001)

The Japanese Ibaraki research institute has developed a semiconductor oxide catalyst which makes it possible to split water by means of visible light, which accounts for 43 % of the sunlight. Semiconductor oxides used previously could only use UV radiation, which is only about 4 % of the light. The quantum yield is 0,66 %, which is not enough for practical use, but the results are seen as a good basis for further development. 

(Z. Zou et al., Nature 414 (2001) 625-7)

Bringing the small business and the fuel cell together is the idea behind a concept called „Distributed energy supply with fuel cells — safe future for the small business“ worked out by a project group from the Aachen area. The main items are organization, quality management, and economical aspects as well as education and training. Among the partners there are the corresponding institutions of the Chamber of Small Business and Skilled Crafts of Aachen, the city of Herzogenrath and the regional utility ASEAG Energie GmbH. One plan is to add fuel cell heating appliances to the existing gas motor power stations in the former engine building of Grube Adolf, an abandoned coal mine (see No. 5/00 „Small Business“). On 7. November the fathers of the project were awarded the Aachen Environment price in the Coronation Hall of the city hall. A lecture was given under the title: „From steam engines to fuel cells - A coal mines goes astray“

The British fuel cell producer Zevco went out of business in early November. The German daughter Zetek-Power GmbH from Cologne-Porz as well has preliminarily announced the stop of business activities. Company head Claude Rivoire now looks for investors in order to run the company independently. He is convinced of its economical potential. This is also the opinion of Administrator Andreas Amelung. To save the company he wants to acquire orders first and secure the funding. Another idea is to concentrate at Porz a few departments which are now scattered over Europe. 

(Bonner General-Anzeiger, 5. December 2001)

A joint initiative for introduction of fuel cells in the market has been established on 27. October at Essen. EWE AG (Oldenburg), Ruhrgas AG (Essen), VNG Verbundnetz Gas (Leipzig) and MW Energie AG (Mannheim) intend to bring manufacturers, utilities, and institutes together and to prepare the market for the new energy technology. The partners are convinced that after 2005 the technology will be introduced on a broad basis both for commercial and domestic use. 

(Nordwest Zeitung, 28. October 2001)

FuelCell Energy, manufacturer of molten carbonate fuel cells, and Caterpillar, maker of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines, will jointly distribute fuel cells for commercial use. One of the activities will be a joint development which brings the cells together with the Caterpillar turbines. 

(Caterpillar press release of 15. November 2001)

RWE, the biggest German utility, intends to be at the top of the field of fuel cell power units, according to project head Heinz Bergmann. Beginning in 2005 RWE will market fuel cell products for homes or commerce. About 2007/08 the division is expected to make money. The energy company hopes that by 2015 their market share in Germany in the field of this distributed energy technology will be 10 % . They expect to build 100.000 plants at 5 kW each until 2010. 

The investment costs for fuel cell products are expected to drop significantly. The price now is 5 k€/kW, but will go down to 1.25 to 1.5 k€/kW for private customers and about 1 to 1.25 k€ for industrial use. The final user will not pay more for this technology than for a conventional supply. 

(Die Welt, 21. November 2001)

General Motors and Chevron Texaco will jointly advance the reforming of gasoline to hydrogen on board of fuel cell cars. No details about the size of the project in terms of money or vehicles were given. Both companies expect that the CO₂ emissions of the vehicles will be cut by half, while their efficiency will double.

(Reuters, 24. October 2001)

The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) sees no turnaround for the CO₂ emissions. Almost no country is following the reduction path agreed upon in Kyoto. The CO₂ emissions last year were probably 8 % above those of 1990. The USA are leading the field. The chances that Germany will reach the objective of the Federal government to reduce the CO₂ emissions by 25 % from 1990 to 2005 are considered by DIW as „not too good“.

(DIW press release of 7. November 2001)

The pacific island state of Tuvalu, with an inhabitance of 11000 the fourth smallest country of the world, will have to be evacuated in the foreseeable future. The global climate change causes more frequent inundations of the islands. It becomes more and more difficult to find drinking water because the salt enters the wells. Dams are no help. The government of Tuvalu has asked New Zealand for help, but without success. 

(Der Tagesspiegel, 17. November 2001)

US energy secretary Abraham sees an important role for the fuel cell in the framework of the US energy policy. The driving force in his eyes is the necessity to overcome the dependence from oil imports from the Middle East or other unstable world regions, which became even more important before the background of the recent political developments. (AFX News, 31. October 2001)

David Garman, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, told a House panel on 1. November that the technology portfolio will be reoriented towards a hydrogen fuel cell future in a „more aggressive“ way. The department is now spending 110 M$ a year for hydrogen and fuel cells; the requests for the fiscal year 2003 will be significantly higher. James Woolsey, former CIA director, told the same panel that a distributed energy system were also better protected against terrorist attacks. The nation's centralized system of large power plants, a connected power grid and long pipelines is almost certainly going to come under attack from terrorists, who already have used the postal and air transportation systems as weapons, Woolsey said. (Bloomberg, 2. November 2001)

Werner Mueller, Federal minister for economy and technology, presented on 27. November his Energy report. One of the statements on climate protection is that the transport sector still gives reason to worry. Between 1990 and 1999 the 1999 the CO₂ emissions from trade and services dropped by 36 %, from industry by 32 %, from generation and transformation of energy by 19 %, and from private households by 4 %. Those from traffic and transport, however, rose by 15 %. (DWV press release 5/01 of 5. December 2001)

The report makes very critical statements about the objective of the Federal government to reduce the CO₂ emissions by 40 % from 1990 to 2020. It predicts considerable costs which would be bad for the economy. An average household would have to pay 1.5 k€ extra. This part of the report caused stern criticism from parts of the parliament groups of the government parties. Experts said that Mueller would neglect both the costs of global climate change and the input for the economy from the advance of environmental technology.

A remarkably large audience attended the hearing about „Mobility and Traffic“ held by the Commission on „Sustainable Energy Supply“ of the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) held on 6. December in Berlin. Twelve experts were invited to give their views on the middle (until 2020) and long term (2050) perspectives. During the discussion on the foreseeable role of new fuels and engines hydrogen played a role. Hartmut Mehdorn, head of German Rail, expects an important decision on Diesel traction between 2020 and 2050: it will either remain or be completely and without intermediate steps replaced by fuel cells on the basis of hydrogen. The electric traction, however, is preferred. DaimlerChrysler expects that by 2020 vehicles with alternative fuels will have a market share or 15 %.

The law about the promotion of cogeneration will probably not become effective before 1. March 2002. The discussions in the parliament were very controversial and took more time than expected. There was no discussion, however, about the funding of fuel cells.

A number of review papers on energy technologies appeared in Nature 414 (2001). Here the most relevant:

• M. S. Dresselhaus, I. L. Thomas: „Alternative energy technologies“, p. 332-7

• M. Grätzel: „Photoelectrochemical cells”, p. 338-44

• B. C. H. Steele, A. Heinzel: „Materials for fuel-cell technologies”, p. 345-52

• L. Schlapbach, A. Züttel: „Hydrogen-storage materials for mobile applications“, p. 353-8

Buy fuel cell cars by all means as soon as you can — the vehicles with batteries are far too dangerous. The University of Illinois registered 62 eye injuries, a number of them severe, in only eight months after battery explosions. They were caused by acid, burns, or battery fragments flying about. The most dangerous type are those batteries which need refilling with distilled water. When charged they develop a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen which escapes through a small hole. Sparks of any source (like from wrong handling of cables or chargers) can cause a flame which enters the interior of the battery.