Those of you who are US citizens can help.  Through the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Network – a grassroots campaign to integrate fuel cells and hydrogen into the green energy economy – you can send a letter to your Congressman telling him/her you support hydrogen and fuel cells and asking for the restoration of the budget to, at least, 2009 levels.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3, folks so, apathy aside! Click here to send your letter. 

Sebastian Blanco from AutoblogGreen.com is in town covering the conference.  You can read his more in-depth account of the session here, as well as links to his other posts. 

When it comes to fuel cells, you’ve only got to take a look around at this conference to see just how applicable and relevant this “stepping stone” concept is; how many companies are here talking about emerging and smaller market applications for hydrogen and fuel cell technology?  I know things like generators and lift trucks aren’t sexy like cars are sexy but when you start taking about fuel cell value props in non-automotive markets, I’d be lying to say the dollars and cents don’t turn people on.

This morning’s Commercial Products: Material Handling (MH) session was the best session I’ve been to yet.  It was great to hear well-rounded, encouraging updates from this market segment and, if people didn’t see the compelling value proposition of this market segment by the end of the session, they must have been asleep in their chairs.  

Steve Medwin from Raymond explained Raymond’s ultimate goal is full integration of fuel cell technology into new lift trucks, rather than the fuel cell emulator model of today, where batteries are swapped out for fuel cell power packs.  Medwin explained that not only will this facilitate improved energy efficiency of the combined system; he believes it’ll result in a lower cost of ownership for customers.

Thomas Joseph from Air Products described MH as changing the hydrogen infrastructure equation, explaining Air Products alone is doing 300 or more fills a day right now, with a target of 600 per day by September (as compared to 200 fills per week for hydrogen-powered cars).  Interesting to note … of the 100,000 Air Products fills to date, more than 50,000 have been MH refuelings.  What Joseph also said was that fueling solutions for MH will look the same for automotive, so the work being done in MH is paving the way for automotive too.  Sounds like a good example of one of Moore’s “stepping stones” to me.

Andy Marsh from Plug Power described one of Plug’s customers increasing its daily pallet moves quota from 118 moves per hour to more than 140; all because they swapped out the batteries in their lift trucks for fuel cells.  And they’re fun to drive too! Here’s a short video testimonial from a “real life” lift truck operator.

Finally, Mikael Sloth from H2 Logic presented a very different value prop for MH applications in Europe.  There, the productivity gains offered by fuel cells don’t hold the same sway as in North American, because in Europe, battery swapping is done in a tenth of the time (two minutes versus approximately 20), and lithium ion battery technology is enabling highly efficient two shift operations.  In Europe, the value prop’s offering an alternative to LPG and diesel heavy duty lift trucks and the need to reduce emissions.  Did you know, for example, that replacing an LPG or diesel lift truck with a fuel cell one can remove the emissions equivalent of more than eight cars?

Like I said before, a great session. I recommend a visit to any one of these presenters’ booths for more information.  And, for those of you interested in learning more about fuel cells for MH in general, there’s a great current article from DC Velocity that’s worth a read, here.

Brought to you by Rebecca at Puzzlewood.

So how many times did we hear comments and presentations based on business? A good number - thank crunchie. What about the golden word - profit…. . Well we certainly heard it from one company and they weren’t taken about in the next ten years. They said now! Honestly!!!

The conferene itself is a really good mix of hydrogen and fuel cell technology, advocates, business people and academics and so far business in the halls as well and the presentations have had a real stiff competition on their hands with the heavenly weather and stunning views. It is a real testament to the determination of this INDUSTRY (yes we emphasis that point) that most people have stayed out of the sun and into the work.

Day 2 and the bells are ringing to call the faithful into prayer -sorry back to miracles. We meant that the bells are calling us into the meeting hall. After all folks we see this as a business not  a question of faith.

Until later

Kerry-Ann and Lisa from Fuel Cell Today

PS all comments in this blog are personal and not meant to represent the views of any of the companies here or the organising committee or even our own company.

Today, I’ve heard many people speak about the need for collaboration … whether between governments, within the sector, across industry sectors … the list goes on.  And it makes sense. The hydrogen and fuel cell industry faces some significant challenges still; when you’re working towards many of the same goals, there’s economic and political sense in collaborating to remove some of the hurdles.  So many attendees, from across the globe, are a testament to the willingness to share and learn. 

However, this industry is also full of fierce competition.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  Competition is critical to driving innovation and achievement.  But, my point is, I’ve spent long enough working in the industry to know how tough it can be, and I’ve heard more than one of you talk about why one solution will work and another won’t, and why something one company does is better than another approach.

So, can productive collaboration and healthy competition really coexist?

Larry Burns , in his presentation as part of the Automotive Commercialization panel, talked about the need to frame answers to some of the tough questions the automotive industry faces today in terms of “and” and not “or” solutions.  He talked about this concept, primarily in the context of light duty vehicles and the portfolio of transportation technologies and alternatives necessary to reach efficiency and emissions targets.  Burns explained, as many of us are aware, that it’s not a case of battery versus fuel cell; or using natural gas to make hydrogen versus using it to generate electricity; or recharging batteries versus swapping them out. It’s a case of using what makes sense, given the particular situation, in pursuit of the overall goal.

Now admittedly, right now, it seems some folks don’t get this, whether it’s proponents of one particular technology, or government departments making funding decisions.  

But, it seems to me, you can apply this “and” versus “or” approach directly to the hydrogen and fuel cell industry.  Just in my conversations today, I’ve heard remarks that illustrate people get it.  Most people at this conference know there’s no silver bullet (heard that term three times today, by the way); there’s no “or” solution that’s going to solve the issues the hydrogen and fuel cell industry faces.  But there are lots of “and” solutions, and that’s what people are talking about.

So, if we take this “and” rather than “or” concept and apply it to this industry, that’s how competition and collaboration can work.  It’s not a case of working together or working alone; it’s a case of both working collaboratively and independently to reach industry and corporate goals.

Brought to you by Rebecca at Puzzlewood.

The conference runs June 1-3, 2009 at the new Vancouver Convention Centre.

The conference program is available at: http://www.hfc2009.com/itoolkit.asp?pg=CONFERENCE_PROGRAM

You can also visit our social media room for media materials, video and photos: http://www.hfc2009.com/itoolkit.asp?pg=SOCIAL_MEDIA_ROOM

Please stay tuned to this site for regular postings during the conference from several bloggers participating in the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells 2009 conference.

For any media inquiries, please contact me, Sara Bearchell, at 604-623-3007 x 240 or by email sara.bearchell@karyo-edelman.com.