Connecticut boasts the largest concentration of fuel-cell companies in the United States, including leading fuel-cell manufacturers UTC Power, Proton OnSite and Fuel Cell Energy.
Other Intelligent Energy world's firsts in recent years include the development of the world's first hydrogen fuel cell motorbike and supplying the fuel cell system to Boeing which powered the world's first manned fuel cell aircraft.
ENGADGET: UK's first fuel cell-powered black cab hits the streets of London
Yozo Kami, Honda's fuel cell chief, promises to solve all of fuel cell vehicles' technical problems by 2012 and to have the cost of fuel cells at "Accord-level" by 2020.
Research at the University of Florida's fuel cell lab aims largely at making such fuel cell systems more efficient and less polluting and integrating them with vehicles, he said.
Earlier this month, Daimler, Ford and Nissan re-upped their commitment to the lead-off batter for the Periodic Table of the Elements by announcing a pact to develop a common fuel cell system that could lead to affordable fuel cell cars by 2017.
The purpose of the program is to facilitate the development of commercially viable fuel cell bus technologies and increase public acceptance of the fuel cell vehicles.
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The choice of electrolyte is a critical constraint that drives many of the choices fuel cell developers must make as they pursue more efficient fuel cell technologies.
The company can also lean on a trade group, the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, whose members range from specialty companies like Fuel Cell Energy and Ballard Power Systems to giants like General Electric and United Technologies.
The three companies in the fuel cell collaborative said they have 60 years of cumulative experience in fuel cell cars and their prototypes have driven over 10 million miles.
Other projects being funded this year include an effort to develop a smaller, less costly and more durable fuel cell power system that will enable commercialization of U.S. fuel cell buses, and an effort to develop and demonstrate a lightweight highly efficient bus that incorporates an improved hybrid-electric drive and enhanced bus design.
ENGADGET: FTA awards $16.6 million in grants for fuel cell bus research
During its first tour of London's roads, one of the Fuel Cell Black Cabs excelled in rush-hour traffic, with smooth and responsive acceleration provided by the fuel cell and electric motors.
ENGADGET: UK's first fuel cell-powered black cab hits the streets of London
Additional tax credits for choosing hybrid, fuel cell, alternative fuel and advanced lean-burn technology vehicles have been offered since 2005.
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By 2020 or so, depending on the progress of fuel cell technology, the last of the island's 9, 500 gasoline cars will be gone and only water-vapor-emitting fuel cell autos will remain, according to Taniguchi's plan.
One popular fuel cell stock that Redstone is avoiding: Ballard Power Systems (nasdaq: BLDP - news - people ), which focuses on the automotive market and is the biggest company in the fuel cell business.
ReliOn, a fuel-cell manufacturer based in Spokane, WA and focused on emergency-generation applications, reported that one of its customers hit by Hurricane Irene had 56 cell towers with fuel cells installed for backup power.
No automaker has yet to offer a fuel-cell-powered car for sale to customers, although Honda has said it plans to lease a number of the fuel-cell cars to customers as soon as 2008.
As a fuel cell, it also needs fuel to run, in this case natural gas or another source of methane (such as landfill gas or biogas from anaerobic digesters).
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In other energy news, a team of researchers at Harvard has created an amazing hydrogen fuel cell that keeps running even after its fuel supply is exhausted.
Mike Brown, an executive with UTC Power, a leading fuel-cell maker, said the fuel cells need to last at least four or five years for the technology to be competitive.
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The cars, including the Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle advanced (FCHV-adv), fuel up at Proton OnSite in Connecticut, are in test fleets, and the numbers are very small.
He cites FuelCell Energy's work for the Department of Energy on a technology known as the fuel cell hybrids, or power plants that cut emissions by combining fuel cells with conventional gas turbines.
Bethesda, Maryland, is developing solid oxide fuel cell generators that will replace reliance on traditional battlefield power solutions and potentially reduce the fuel required for tactical generation of electric power by half or more.
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Frankly, I believe that solid oxide fuel cells are the better technology in the long run, but Fuel Cell Energy owns 43% of the shares of VERSA Power that also makes solid oxide fuel cells.
The fuel cell development work will use existing facilities, including the site of a joint venture between Daimler and Ford to develop fuel cells in Vancouver, Canada.
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America's Department of Transportation is planning a rule change from October 1st to allow passengers and crew to bring fuel-cell-powered electronic devices and one or two fuel cartridges on board in their carry-on baggage.
The new rules should help promote hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as well, regulators said.
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When the sun goes down, the hydrogen powers a fuel cell that runs your home.
The fuel cell, which has been around for 50 years, generates electricity from hydrogen and oxygen.
One is the electric car, the other is the fuel cell, or the hydrogen car.
Nearly 10% of the registered attendees for our fuel cell webinar came from the financial industry.
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