DOE gets $100 million for fuel cell program

Oct. 23, 2000
The US Department of Energy will have about $100 million for fuel cell related programs in the new fiscal year, including $52.7 million for stationary fuel cell programs, $10 million more than the Clinton administration asked.

The US Department of Energy will have about $100 million for fuel cell related programs in the new fiscal year, including $52.7 million for stationary fuel cell programs, $10 million more than the Clinton administration asked.

The money was included in the Interior appropriations bill Pres. Bill Clinton signed earlier this month.

The US House and Senate jointly agreed upon the sum for stationary fuel cell programs along with approving the full request of $41.5 million for transportation fuel cell research and $5.5 million for buildings.

The stationary fuel cell program will fund research and development to cut costs and improve performance leading to commercial fuel cell power systems within 3 years, support prototype testing at a commercial site, and fund hybrid fuel cell power system research.

"This is the first time in recent memory that Congress [has] fully funded the [DOE's] fuel cell research budget," said Robert Rose, executive director of Breakthrough Technologies Institute/Fuel Cells 2000. "We hope this marks a watershed for fuel cell funding."

The allocated money for transportation fuel cell research will pay for integrating fuel cell stacks with fuel processors and balance-of-plant technologies for testing. The program will also address technology barriers to fuel-flexible fuel cell systems for automotive applications.

The sum allocated for the fuel cell buildings program is a 55% increase over 2000. The funds will be used to develop a prototype fuel processor, complete the design competition for a 50-kw cogenerator for buildings, and other research and development.

Fuel cells generate electricity without combustion by harnessing the energy created when hydrogen and oxygen are chemically combined. Numerous private companies are pursuing commercialization of the technology.