Commercial Reality Is Fast-Approaching for the Fuel of the Future

29 March 1999
Commercial Reality Is Fast-Approaching for the Fuel of the Future
   Advances in Making Hydrogen a Mainstream Energy Source the Focus of 10th
         Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting and Exhibition April 7-9, 1999,
                             In Vienna, Virginia

    WASHINGTON, March 26 -- For years, hydrogen has been one of
the best-kept secrets in the energy business.  But when the world's hydrogen
community convenes in Vienna, Virginia, from Wednesday, April 7, to Friday,
April 9, the focus will be on a source of energy that is starting to make
sense to a wide spectrum of people, from corporate executives to
environmentalists to national leaders.
    The National Hydrogen Association's 10th Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting and
Exhibition at the Sheraton Premiere Hotel at Tyson's Corner brings together
more than 250 hydrogen advocates, businesspeople, and researchers from several
countries under the theme "Hydrogen: Setting the Standard for a Global Energy
System."  Hydrogen is an inexhaustible element that is used daily in hundreds
of processes from the dramatic -- powering the space shuttle -- to the mundane
-- preparing edible oils and foodstuffs.
    Hydrogen's future as a mainstream source of clean electric energy has
become much clearer in recent months thanks to faster than expected
developments in the commercial production of hydrogen-fueled electric
vehicles.
    Mainstream automotive giants like DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and Honda are
among those companies making news for their development of cars powered by
fuel cells.  Fuel cells use hydrogen, either in its pure state or through
hydrogen-bearing gases like methane, to make electricity.  Unlike other
electric cars, fuel cell cars do not require large, expensive batteries.  All
fuel cells are clean; when hydrogen is the fuel the only by-products from the
fuel cell are heat, pure water, and electricity.
    Speakers at the 10th Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting and Exhibition will
examine hydrogen energy from a wide range of perspectives.  The meeting will
include coverage of global and local political and environmental issues
relating to hydrogen, the development of codes and standards to support a
hydrogen-powered economy, and real-world demonstrations of hydrogen as both a
stationary and transportation energy source.

    Political and Environmental Issues
    On Thursday, April 8, Rep. John E. Peterson (R-PA) of the House
Appropriations Committee will deliver a keynote address at 8:15 AM, discussing
his support of hydrogen as a means of reducing air pollution and for its role
in new clean coal technologies.
    Also on Thursday, the NHA members will hear from two leading environmental
advocates.  Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute will speak just after
Representative Peterson and provide a strategy for a transition to a hydrogen
economy.  That evening, at the NHA Gala dinner, Christopher Flavin of the
Worldwatch Institute will address hydrogen in terms of increasing renewable
energy use in response to climate change.
    The environmental issue will be pursued on Thursday afternoon in talks on
carbon sequestration and the need for hydrogen energy in response to research
that links cancer rates to air quality.

    Opening Markets
    Throughout the three-day conference, developing markets and new products
will be highlighted.  Fuel cells for automobiles, buses, and even wheelchairs
will be examined.  The introduction of hydrogen refueling stations, including
a portable refueling device that can be packed in a car trunk, will be
addressed.  Other commercial projects under review will include hydrogen power
for remote Alaskan villages, hydrogen-fueled city and regional bus fleets, new
fuel cells for stationary power, and tapping landfills and other biomass
processes to provide gas for fuel cells.
    For general registration -- $580 for nonmembers, please contact the
National Hydrogen Association, 1800 M Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC
20036-5802, U.S.A.  Telephone:  202-223-5547.  Facsimile:  202-223-5537.
E-mail: nha@ttcorp.com.  Or visit the NHA Web site:
http://www.ttcorp.com/nha/.