Fuel Cell

Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) has been designated to receive an additional $2.5 million in Federal grant funding during 2006-2007 for the continued development of nanotechnology, nanosensors, and nanomaterials research, development and deployment. The $2.5 million funding was included in the Congressional Energy and Water Development Appropriation for Fiscal Year 2006, which was passed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2005. We anticipate the appropriation will be signed by the President within the next week. ALTI had a nice 10% jump in the price yesterday on this news.

Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) announced today that it has won a contract to supply a 65 kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell power module to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Fuel Cell Test and Evaluation Center (FCTec) operated by Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC). The power module will be integrated into an Aircraft Tow Tractor by CTC and will be used in fuel cell demonstrations at select Air Force Bases and civil airports in the United States, in conjunction with the United States Air Force Advanced Alternate Power Technology Transformation Office, Warner-Robins AFB, Georgia. The fuel cell system will be delivered...

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc (QTWW) announced the delivery of five hydrogen-fueled Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles to the City of Burbank, California. This is part of a larger South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) program to develop and demonstrate 30 hydrogen hybrid vehicles to fleets in Southern California. The formal delivery will take place during a ceremony to be held today at the City of Burbank's Public Works Yard. Under contract to the AQMD, Quantum engineered a state-of-the-art OEM-caliber hydrogen fuel system, optimized the performance of the vehicle system, completed accelerated long-term durability testing, and performed...

Astris Energi Inc. (ASRNF) announced they had received a purchase order from Alternate Energy Corporation (ARGY) for the first Model E8 Portable Power Generator covered by the value-added reseller (VAR) agreement they signed in May 2004. As well as the initial unit to be delivered in a few weeks, the purchase order included five additional Model E8s to be delivered in stages later in 2005. The E8 Generator is the latest in a series of Astris power generators driven by Astris' AFC technology. Nominally rated at 2.4kW and providing 48 VDC power at 50 amperes of current, the...

I purchased shares in Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) this morning for both my personal portfolio and also the mutual fund. ALTI is a holding company that specializes in nanomaterials and also contains a life sciences division. The materials company has research in high performance batteries, fuel cells, and photovoltaics. Altair announced earnings today and the stock is up on the morning trading. Revenue Increases 68 Percent for Third Quarter and 230 Percent for Nine-Month Period "An increase in revenue of 230 percent for the first three quarters of 2005 is representative of the significant progress Altair has...

I placed several trades for the mutual fund this afternoon to start building a position in some of the fuel cell companies. This sub-sector has been under pressure the last couple of months but seems to be building a nice base of support at the current levels. I feel this entire sub-sector is ready for a nice up move and the stocks have been behaving nicely the last week or so. The one stock I seriously considered not adding was Quantum. The stock has been in a steady decline and there is no sign that it’s going to slow...

Medis Technologies Ltd. (MDTL) issued a statement about its recent decline in stock price. "... As you know on March 16th we held the conference at which we demonstrated the operating Power Packs running cell phones, MP3 devices, electronic games and PDA's among other devices. We left the conference thinking that it was a huge success, showing for the first time in history actual working fuel cell products, which are far ahead of anything ever seen before. As best I understand what happened, the share decline started with an attack on our shares by short sellers,...

Plug Power Inc (PLUG) announced the sale of twelve GenCore® backup fuel cell systems to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The 5kW hydrogen-fueled GenCore fuel cell systems will be integrated with uninterruptible power supply (UPS) equipment to provide critical backup power to DEP offices throughout the state of Florida. Plug Power was chosen for its ability to deliver a total fuel cell system solution that includes training, service, hydrogen delivery, and a system durable enough to endure extreme weather conditions.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD) announced today that it will expand its Baytown, Texas facility to produce 70 million standard cubic feet per day of hydrogen. A portion of the hydrogen produced will be supplied to the adjacent ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery under a long-term agreement, with the remainder transported through the Air Products West Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline system to other customers. Currently this increased production will primarily be used by ExxonMobil for petro-based fuels. The excess will be shipped out to APD's hydrogen pipeline system which could be used for future hydrogen needs.

Millennium Cell Inc (MCEL) announced that they have delivered to the U.S. Air Force the industry's first fully-integrated 30 Watt portable fuel cell power system fueled by chemical hydride cartridges. This portable power system, (referred to as P1), is the first deliverable under a previously announced U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Dual Use Science and Technology (DUST) contract awarded to Protonex. The system integrates Millennium Cell's hydrogen energy system into Protonex's PEM fuel cell platform to provide a fuel cell power source for soldiers on extended field missions.

PolyFuel announced additional funding for their portable fuel cell technology. They are currently a privately held company backed by several venture capital firms. I'm keeping this company on my radar screen because these venture firms will eventually want to take this company public. Here is an excerpt from this most recent PR announcement. Click the link to read the full press release. PolyFuel, Inc., the world leader in membrane technology for portable fuel cells, today announced it has closed an $18.4 million, third round of funding, bringing total investment in the 5-year-old startup to approximately $40 million....

Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU) maintained an "outperform" rating and $12 target price from a Piper Jaffray analyst. "Hoku will continue to record substantial revenue growth driven by accelerated technology development in preparation for commercial markets," Piper analyst Jesse W. Pichel wrote in a recent report. I'm still waiting for Marketocracy to add this ticker to the stock universe so I can buy it for the mutual fund. If I had additional money in my personal portfolio, I would purchase more at this level.

Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) announced that it has sold a hydrogen reformer and refueling system to Korean Gas Technology Corporation (KOGAS-Tech). The reformer will generate hydrogen by reforming natural gas and will be installed at the Korea Gas research and development facility in Incheon, near Seoul. The hydrogen produced will be used for refueling vehicles. The reformer will be able to generate 65 kilograms of hydrogen a day, which is enough to refuel approximately 20 fuel cell powered vehicles. The reformer and refueling system is anticipated to be delivered and installed by June 2006.

Sumitomo Corporation has announced that is has obtained Japan's first certification for a 700-bar (10,000psi) pressurized hydrogen storage system for fuel cell vehicles in collaboration with Suzuki in July 2004. The hydrogen storage system that Sumitomo is using is produced by Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc (QTWW). This is the third country where Quantum hydrogen storage system has been approved for use.