Monthly Archives: October 2004

ZAP (ZAPZ) announced that it has taken an equity position in Zibo Enterprises Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of advanced battery technology in The People's Republic of China. Steve Schneider, Chief Executive Officer for ZAP, says that the announcement is the next step in the Company's business plans to establish a ZAP Energy Division. Schneider says the synergy between advanced automotive and energy technology has prompted ZAP to expand and departmentalize to focus on these respective markets.

The Production Tax Credit (PTC) a critical factor in stimulating the growth of the US wind industry is very likely to be expanded to include geothermal energy as part of the JOBS tax package (H.R. 4520, the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004") just approved by a Congressional Conference Committee.

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) and its partner in Japan, Marubeni Corp., announced today that they have finalized their agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KWHIY) to become a packager of Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants in Japan. As part of this agreement, Kawasaki will purchase a DFC300A power plant from Marubeni, to be installed at the Kawasaki Akashi Works near Osaka, Japan, where it will undergo evaluation and testing for the development of a Kawasaki-branded carbonate fuel cell power plant.

Honda Motor Co (HMC) expects the introduction of its new gas-electric version of the Accord to boost its U.S. sales of hybrid vehicles to more than 45,000 next year. Honda officials said Thursday they expect to sell 20,000 hybrid versions of the Accord sedan, in addition to the Honda Insight and Civic hybrid compacts.

Millennium Cell Inc (MCEL) announced that it has been awarded a subcontract to develop hydrogen storage systems for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The prime contractor is Pennsylvania-based Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), which operates the DoD's Fuel Cell Test and Evaluation Center (FCTec) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Millennium Cell's contract is part of first-year activities under the DoD contract to develop Common Core Power Production (C2P2) technology for the Air Force's Advanced Alternate Power Technology Transformation Office (A2PT2O). The C2P2 Program is based on utilizing fuel cell systems as interchangeable power sources for military equipment. Millennium Cell...

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (NYIL) will acquire three (3) biomass power plants in Italy as a result of the recently announced merger/acquisition of ICL. The plants will generate approximately $150 million annually ($1.1billion dollars through 2012) and provide a before tax profit of approximately $30 million for each of the next seven (7) years. The merger is on target to be completed before the end of December 2004. Green Energy Resources export sales of woodchips from the United States are projected at approximately 2 million metric tons for 2005, generating approximately $100 million dollars in gross sales revenues....

ZAP (ZAPZ) announced today that its newest model received a casting-call while ABC's Emmy-nominated show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was in the neighborhood. The episode in which Extreme Makeover requested the ZAPPY3 is scheduled to air on Sunday, October 10th at 8 p.m. Pacific Time on ABC. The cast and crew heard about ZAP's new 3-wheeled electric scooter while filming an episode near Santa Rosa where ZAP is Headquartered and requested a couple of scooters for the shoot. ZAP says that the production crew along with host Ty Pennington found the silent-running scooter useful for their location work....

SatCon Technology Corporation (SATC) nounced the launch of its new 500kW grid connected PowerGate(TM) Photovoltaics inverter with recent orders for the North American market. The 500kW unit rounds out SatCon's family of solar array inverters, including designs for 50kW, 100kW, 225kW and 500kW three-phase applications, and designs for 15 - 30kW single-phase applications. SatCon's products provide a more cost effective alternative for solar integrators by eliminating many of the independent components and field wiring required by other designs. SatCon's photovoltaic inverters include all of the necessary equipment to convert solar array DC power to useable AC power and also...

Worldwater Corp (WWAT) has established a strategic alliance with Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., a major Indian pump manufacturer, to develop water management systems to provide improved water and power supplies for rural and urban poor around the world. Under the five-year pact, WorldWater and Kirloskar will develop projects that combine WorldWater's proprietary solar power technology with Kirloskar's broad range of pump and motor products. As outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both companies, the partnership will help both companies meet their common objectives of bringing sustainable agricultural development and improvement of living and working conditions for...

PolyFuel plans to announce that it has achieved a breakthrough in fuel-cell membranes by using an alternative material: a hydrocarbon that it says costs only about half as much per square meter as the conventional material. Compared with the fluorine compounds that are the most commonly used for membranes in fuel cells now under testing, PolyFuel says that hydrocarbon membranes allow production of more electricity per square centimeter of membrane. That could mean that a fuel cell could produce the same power as a fluorine-membrane version, but would be smaller and lighter, according to the company. ...

In order to take full advantage of the recent Congressional extension of the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind generation, Xcel Energy yesterday filed a request with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to further expedite a company bidding process for new wind power in the state. On Aug. 11, 2004, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission gave Xcel Energy (XEL) permission to issue a "Request of Proposal" for up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy expected to primarily be wind under the company's overall resource planning process. The bidding process for this wind power began the...

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) announced that its European strategic partner, MTU CFC Solutions, GmbH (a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler), placed a new order for the Company's Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) components for 3 new sub-megawatt carbonate fuel cell power plants. Delivery is expected in late calendar year 2004 and early calendar year 2005. Announcements of individual power plant sites utilizing these DFC stacks will be forthcoming, with each customer's request and authorization. MTU's branded carbonate fuel cell power plant, the HotModule®, is based on FuelCell Energy's Direct FuelCell technology and utilize fuel cells manufactured by FuelCell Energy's Connecticut manufacturing facility....

Active Power Inc (ACPW) announced that it has received its first order for two multi-megawatt systems in a parallel configuration. With this order, the total number of megawatt UPS systems sold is now eleven, with eight of these sales occurring in the last 4 months. Active Power's products are a proven alternative to problematic battery-based systems. CleanSource flywheel technology uses the kinetic energy from a constantly spinning steel flywheel to eliminate the need for lead acid battery-based systems.

A FUEL CELL that runs on sugar rather than methanol is in development by Matsushita, according to a report in today's Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Practical applications could be as a source of power for heart pacemakers, using blood sugar to create electricity.

The device, manufactured by Fujitsu Laboratories, generates power by combining methanol and hydrogen. DoCoMo claims that development of the cell could be completed by the end of 2005. "The micro fuel cell is aimed at meeting user demands for more convenient handsets with greater power capacity, as well as reduced environmental impact," DoCoMo said in a statement.

This November, the construction of the world’s largest tidal power plant will begin at Ansan City’s Shihwa Lake in Gyeonggi Province, and next year, the construction of an experimental current power plant will start in Haenam County at Uldol-mok. As an aside, this website has a great feature that allows you to listen to a text-to-speach version of this article in either a male or female voice.