became 90 years old on 30. June. After an unparalleled career in the aviation business he did not simply retire, but thought much earlier than many others about the relationships between energy, climate, environment, and the survival of mankind. 20 years ago he formulated ideas which basically still hold today. He founded the Ludwig Boelkow foundation and the L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH, which are among the most important parties in the field. Little wonder that both Boelkow personally as well as L-B-Systemtechnik were among the founders of DWV in 1996.

is a small town near at the coast of the Baltic Sea. Wolfgang Methling, minister for environment of the state of Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania, performed the groundbreaking for the hydrogen bus project there on 10. July on the ground of the city sewage plant. The hydrogen is a by-product of the oxygen generation for the sewage plant. With the support of FH Stralsund (University of Applied Sciences) the city and a local bus company decided to demonstrate environmentally friendly traffic. Both gases are produced by an electrolyzer running on solar power. 50 % of the money comes from the federal government, 40 % from the state, and 10 % from the city of Barth.

(Ostsee Zeitung, 11. July 2002; see No. 4/01 „Baltic Bus“)

Otto Ebnet, state minister for economy in Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania, laid the foundation for a „Hydrogen Technology Competence Center“ on 19. August in the state capital of Schwerin. The land contributes 8.5 M€ of the total investments of 9.5 M€. Beginning at the end of 2003 the Center is to be a „start ramp“ for young and innovative companies. There will be 1200 m² for laboratories and technical rooms and 500 m² office space. Ebnet hopes: „Hydrogen Technology is a future technology. New products create jobs in research and application. We provide this chance to innovative companies.“

On 1. July Toyota announced that already at the end of this year the first about 20 hybrid cars will be given to customers in Japan and the USA. This will be done in regions where the hydrogen supply and the service are assured; details will be determined later. Toyota expects that the commercialization of fuel cell cars will not happen before 2010. (Hyweb-Gazette, 4. July 2002)

It appears that this news gave a push to Honda, and so this competing company announced similar plans in late July.

Honda's hydrogen car FCX is the first car which has been approved as a Zero Emission Car by the authorities of California and the federal authorities in the USA. It meets all other requirements as well, like those about safety. During the next two or three years Honda will lease about 30 cars in Japan and the USA; the start in the USA will be in California.

(Bloomberg, 24. July 2002)

The Association of German Transport Utilities (VDV) thinks that hydrogen is the propulsion of the future, while the low emission Diesel is that of today. This is the essence of a position paper published in July. Of particular interest is that the combustion engine running in natural gas is not mentioned at all, not even as intermediary step. Certain groups in the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) claim that this option be compelling.

Canadian pressure vessel maker Dynetek Industries Ltd. has successfully tested a hydrogen tank from composite material for a maximum operating pressure of 12.500 psi (825 bar). The new type is meant for filling stations for hydrogen cars running on compressed gas. The tanks of these vehicles will be designed for 700 bar. The test ended when the vessel burst at 30.920 psi (2.130 bar), which is far above all safety margins for such cylinders. 

(Dynetek press release of 10. July 2002)

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. announces a world record for the storage factor in hydrogen cylinders. The empty weight of a composite cylinder for a maximum operating pressure of 350 bar was reduced such that a factor of 13 % by weight could be achieved. 

(Quantum press release of 11. July 2002)

Car makers want hydrogen gas cylinders designed for 700 bar. Such a vessel, which is made by Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide and will be used by General Motors, has now been certified in Germany by TUV according to the rules valid in Europe and North America. The higher design pressure could enhance the range of the car to about 500 km per filling. 

(GM press release of 29. July 2002)

On the Paris auto show, which starts on 26. September, General Motors will show a study named „Hy-Wire“ which appears to come from an aircraft company rather than from a car company. Around the novel fuel cell propulsion GM has built an equally novel new car.  Or rather two half cars. The engineering is hidden in a not quite 30 cm thick floor segment. It accommodates three hydrogen cylinders designed for 350 bar, the fuel cell, the electro motor and a lot of electronics. The cell has a constant output of 94 kW and makes a speed up to 160 km/h possible. On top of this chassis the customer can put different bodies just as he needs or wants it. The new packaging of the components was one of greatest challenges and needs to be optimized further, according to Erhard Schubert, head of the development center at Mainz-Kastel, where major parts of the work were performed. But he said that the flexibility and potential of the new technology are already obvious. GM's expectations in the new concept are high. Vice president Larry Burns even said: „Someday, Hy-wire could be displayed in a museum side-by-side with the first horseless carriages of Carl Benz or Gottlieb Daimler, or next to Henry Ford's Model T."

(GM press release of 14. August 2002)

The Japanese government will start two large projects over three years each to investigate hydrogen and fuel cells both stationary and on the road. The results will be used for standards and regulations for fuel cells and hydrogen. 

The stationary part will be done by energy companies like Nippon Oil and fuel cell developers like Sanyo Electric; it deals with the energy supply of homes and work places by means of fuel cells. 

Toyota, Honda, Nissan, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler participate in the mobile project. Each company provides one vehicle for road tests. Five filling stations in different parts of the country will be used to gain experience with safe handling. (Two of them are already operating — see No. 1/02 „Japan“; Reuters, 19. July 2002; General Motors press release of 17. July 2002)

By the end of 2004 the transport ministry will have made particular safety rules applicable to such vehicles. They could become effective in 2005 and accompany the stepwise marked introduction. The ministries for environment and trade take part in the activities. By 2010 there are 50.000 fuel cell vehicles expected to be on the road, and 5 million in 2020. (Kyodo News, 23. July 2002)

The first hydrogen locomotive of the world is now being tested with good success. It is a mine locomotive which was designed by the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute and Vehicle Projects LLC in USA and tested by Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology in a test mine in Val d’Or. It stores about 3 kg hydrogen in metal hydrides, and the electro motor gets the energy from a PEM cell which makes 14 kW in continuous operation. This is enough for about eight hours of operation. The results up to now are very satisfactory. The locomotive has about twice the power output of a battery model, and the acceleration is corresponding. In the first tests it pulled four cars with a weight of 4 t each from the mine without problems.

On 11. July 2002 a society called „Fuel Cell Education Center Ulm (WBzU)“ was founded at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW). Its objective is to offer educational programs for interested parties from craft, industry, and universities. The offers are mainly meant for teachers and similar „multiplicators“. But also the general public as well as politics, economy, and media will be able to get information on the new fuel cell technology from WBzU unbiased by manufacturers. 

The ministry for economy of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg funds 3.3 M€ of the project, the federal government (ministry for economy) another 1.5 M€. First programs are expected for this year.

(ZSW press release of 18. July 2002; see No. 3/02 „Test Center“)

General Motors inaugurated a new research and development center for fuel cells in Honeoye Falls (New York, USA) on 29. July 2002. According to Larry Burns, GM vice president for research and development, the work performed in the new facilities will contribute to economical competitiveness and lifetime of the product. He repeated that GM wants to be the first company to sell one million of fuel cell cars. Burns said that by the end of this decade GM will have delivered a significant number of cars with fuel cell propulsion. Energy from fuel cells will be used to supply parts of the facilities. 

(GM press releases of 29. July 2002)

Global climate change is in full swing. UN environment program head Klaus Toepfer said in a newspaper interview that the damage from climate disasters exceeded the sum of 100 G$ for the first time in this year. As another example he quoted the unparalleled storm which killed eight people in Berlin and Brandenburg on 11. July and uprooted more than 4300 trees in Berlin only. Nobody could gain from it, everybody loses. The process is running at full speed, and we can influence it only in the long view. The worst effects are felt in the developing countries, not in the industrialized states where most greenhouse gas emissions come from. The prime minister of Uganda recently told him bitterly: „The industrialized states behave like a house owner who throws his garbage in his neighbor's garden.“ He also mentioned that Europe and Japan have ratified the Kyoto protocol, but not the USA from where 35 % of the emissions come. 

(Die Welt, 15. July 2002)

This year's Bibendum Challenge rally will be held in Europe. Between 22. and 25. September cars with all kinds of alternative or other environment friendly propulsion will ride from the Hockenheimring race track (Germany) via Strasburg (visit to the European Parliament) and Nancy across Champagne to Paris. Hydrogen cars will foreseeable participate. Also involved are the European hydrogen associations.

The committee of the German federal parliament working on „Sustainable energy supply under the conditions of globalization and deregulation“ was submitted on 2. July to president Thierse. It says that a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % until 2050 is technically and economically feasible, no matter whether with or without nuclear energy. On demand of the opposition an option was considered which includes between 50 and 70 new nuclear power plants until 2050. 

All scenarios which lead to the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations on acceptable levels show the following common features for the period until 2050: the global energy efficiency is improved by 2 or 3, the carbon intensity of fossil fuels decreases, the importance of fossil fuel decreases, and the use of renewable energy sources is enhanced by a factor 7 to 8.

In every case hydrogen is introduced as secondary energy carrier until 2050 by the latest. It can server as a buffer for the fluctuating power generation by electrolysis or as fuel. The committee says that political decisions are necessary at an early stage. For the next election period a committee on „Sustainable Mobility“ is recommended.

Starting in 2009 cars sold in California must have CO₂ emissions as low as  „technically feasible“. How much exactly this is will be determined until 2005 by a specialized authority. The law to this effect became effective on 22. July. In a commentary in the Washington Post of the same day Governor Davis expressed regrets that the Bush administration has not ratified the Kyoto protocol and thus „have missed their opportunity to do the right thing“. Davis said that under the new regulations the greatest state of the USA would take the lead and join the Europeans. California could learn something from them.