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Progressive Investor Releases Report on Micro-Fuel Cells

Progressive Investor announces the release of the report, "Micro-Fuel Cells: The First Wave of Fuel Cell Commercialization." Everyone is excited about fuel cells, but most of the discussion is about when they will appear in cars. What most people don't realize is that the first introduction of fuel cells on a massive scale will not be in cars, but will be in small hand held devices like cell phones, digital cameras, and laptop computers, used by people, industry and the military around the world. This report is a succinct overview of the industry, the main players, what sets them apart from each other and the challenges they face, and what to expect going forward. The report covers the small public companies, the role of the multinational electronics companies, and the venture capital view of the sector. The U.S. Fuel Cell Council expects micro-fuel cells to be rapidly adopted in this market, quickly rising to $2 billion in annual sales by 2011. Why? The trend is toward adding more energy thirsty features to these devices, from color screens to more memory, and toward multi-purpose devices like cell phones that double as digital cameras. Current battery technologies can't satisfy this energy demand, […]

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Proton Energy Announces Successful Installation of H Series Hydrogen Generator

Excertped press release Proton Energy Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: DESC) and a leader in hydrogen generation and fuel cell technology and products, announced today the successful startup of the first of Proton's new HOGEN(R) H Series onsite hydrogen generator at Mirant Corp.'s Zeeland, MI power plant. Additionally, Proton announced the receipt of the first two commercial orders for the HOGEN H Series hydrogen generators. The HOGEN H Series unit started up at the Zeeland plant within six hours of commissioning and ran smoothly the first day it was onsite. The H Series unit at Zeeland is part of Proton's Customer Acceptance Program, which allows potential customers to experience a pre-production HOGEN H Series hydrogen generator onsite for a limited trial period with an option to buy once the trial is over. Chip Schroeder, president of Distributed Energy Systems Corp., commented, "With the release and initial sales of our H Series product, Proton moves a major step toward commercial success." In addition to the Zeeland installation, Proton received orders for two H Series hydrogen generators — one for a semiconductor producer and one for a commercial heat treat facility. These units, planned for delivery in […]

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Quantum Schedules Q3 Financial Results Conference Call: March 9

Quantum Schedules Fiscal 2004 Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., (Nasdaq: QTWW) will hold a conference call March 9, 2004, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time). If you are interested in participating, call (785) 832-1508 five to ten minutes prior to the starting time. An operator will check your name and organization and ask you to wait until the call begins. If you can't make the call, a playback will be available on the Company's Investor Relations web page. It will also be available via telephone until March 11, 2004, at 8:59 p.m. Pacific time. The number for this service is (800) 374-1375 or (402) 220-0682. For assistance, please call Elaine Lovre at (206) 315-8252. Quantum designs fuel system technologies for mobile, stationary power and refueling infrastructure applications. Quantum's ultra-light weight composite fuel storage, fuel injection and metering technologies, electronic control products and OEM level systems integration capabilities have enabled the company to develop a product portfolio with state-of-the-art technologies and products, a diverse customer base and strong alliances with partners such as General Motors and Sumitomo Corporation. Quantum is a Tier 1 OEM supplier and a member of the GM […]

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Europe's KompoGas

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by Jim MotavalliSuppose in addition to your blue bin for recyclables, you had a green one for kitchen scraps? And suppose that those scraps were collected and mixed with yard waste, then processed in small, low-emission factories into compost and a clean fuel that could power your car? It sounds utopian, but it’s reality in Europe, where no less than 18 Kompogas plants operate. There’s even one in Japan. Kompogas got its start in Zurich, Switzerland in the late 1980s, when inventor Walter Schmid conducted some experiments on his balcony at home. His test fermenter convinced him it would be possible to turn organic wastes (a third of the household garbage stream) into fuel and compost. The first trial plant was set up in Rmlang, Switzerland in 1991, and from there the concept has spread to Germany (which plans to ban landfill disposal of untreated solid waste by 2005) and Austria. “Kompogas is like an ox,” says Schmid. “It eats, which gives it the energy it needs to power the cart. Any surplus is used as fertilizer for the fields.”The Kompogas plant near Zurich, Switzerland can fuel 1,200 cars and trucks like this one on reprocessed food scraps from homes […]

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Helping Communities Develop Through Efficiency & Renewables

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the world’s leading expert on energy efficiency, is launching a web-based tool to help communities understand how energy efficiency and renewable energy can be an integral part of economic development. The most common way of creating jobs and a tax base for cities and towns is to attract industry. Towns usually offer tax breaks or free infrastructure to new industries or retail developers. These then compete with existing businesses, gobble up land, and increase infrastructure costs. After paying the costs of growth, the community may be worse off than when it started. Michael Kinsley, of RMIs Research & Consulting team, says, Most simply dont know there are business development and job creation opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy. RMI’s new website, the Community Energy Opportunity Finder, is designed to help communities discover those opportunities. We know that efficiency and renewables work, both through logic and by the examples of such cities as Sacramento, Kinsley continues. Sacramento voters told the municipal utility company to shut down a poorly performing nuclear electric generation plant after costly repairs failed. The utility responded by helping customers use energy more efficiently, which avoided the need for new power. It also […]

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