The August 2018 issue of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) newsletter includes stories in these categories:

In the News

Secretary Perry Announces $38 Million in New Projects to Support Innovative Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies

On August 14, Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced the selection of 28 projects totaling $38 million to support early-stage research and development of innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Selections for this investment focus on key early-stage technical challenges related to non-precious metal catalysts, fuel cell membranes, reversible fuel cells, and electrolyzers to produce hydrogen, as well as innovative concepts to improve efficiency and lower costs of hydrogen vehicle refueling infrastructure. View the full list of selected projects.

New Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee Members Appointed

The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC) was established under Section 807 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide technical and programmatic advice to the Energy Secretary on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) hydrogen research, development, and demonstration efforts. HTAC includes representatives from domestic industry, academia, professional societies, government agencies, financial organizations, and environmental groups. Their work is guided by a formal charter, which is renewed every two years. DOE recently appointed six new members to the HTAC.

Fact of the Month August 2018: Global Electrolyzer Sales Reach 100 MW per Year

The estimated global sales of electrolyzers in 2017 were estimated to be 100 megawatts per year. That is enough to produce approximately 50,000 kilograms of hydrogen per day (assuming 50 kWh/kg, running full time). An electrolyzer is a device used in electrolysis, which is a process to produce hydrogen. During electrolysis, an electrolyzer uses electricity to split water molecules (or H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen. This is just one example of the multiple ways in which you can produce hydrogen. View the August Fact of the Month.

Follow EERE on Facebook for More News

Sign up today to follow EERE on Facebook and receive news from all of EERE's offices, including FCTO.

Funding Opportunities and Requests for Information

Energy Department Releases Request for Information on Multi-Sector Uses of Hydrogen

At this month's H2@ Scale project kickoff meeting in Chicago, EERE's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation, Steven Chalk, announced the release of a request for information (RFI) soliciting stakeholder feedback on opportunities to enable high volume production and multi-sector use of hydrogen. The objective of this RFI is to assess the domestic resources compatible with large-scale hydrogen production, as well as to identify pathways to effectively leverage these resources for near- and long-term use in major industries. Responses to this RFI will provide DOE insight into the technical and economic barriers associated with these production pathways and end uses to help establish a more focused and relevant H2@ Scale research portfolio. Responses are due October 31, 2018, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

Updates and future RFI and funding opportunity announcements will be posted on FCTO's funding opportunities website.

Webinars and Workshops

Webinar August 22: Development of Real-Time Characterization Tools and Associated Efforts to Assist Membrane Electrode Assembly Manufacturing Scale-Up

FCTO presented a live webinar titled "Development of Real-Time Characterization Tools and Associated Efforts to Assist Membrane Electrode Assembly Manufacturing Scale-Up" on August 22. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory presented an overview of early-stage research and development related to manufacturing of fuel cell membrane electrode assembly (MEA) materials. Topics included (1) an overview of the manufacturing context and challenges for MEA materials, (2) a detailed presentation of work to develop real-time in-line characterization techniques, (3) an overview of specialized in situ diagnostics, and (4) an overview of efforts to understand the foundational relationships between electrode materials (inks and coated layers), processing methods, and performance. See slides of the webinar (recording coming soon).

H2@ Scale R&D Consortium Kick-Off Meeting Proceedings Posted

FCTO has posted the proceedings from the August 1 H2@ Scale R&D Consortium Kick-Off Meeting held in Chicago, Illinois. View the presentations.

Fuel Cell Truck Workshop Proceedings Posted

FCTO has posted the proceedings from the Fuel Cell Truck Powertrain R&D Activities and Target Review Workshop, held July 30–31, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois. View the presentations.

Visit our website to see webinar archives or workshop presentations.

Studies, Reports, and Publications

Cumulative MHE Deployments Reach more than 21,000

FCTO has posted program record #18002, Industry Deployed Fuel Cell Powered Lift Trucks, which states that cumulative material handling equipment (MHE) deployments (units shipped and on-order) through year-end 2017 total 21,838 units and equate to more than 140,000 kW of fuel cell systems.

Visit our website to access technical information about hydrogen and fuel cells. This information is provided in documents such as technical and project reports, conference proceedings and journal articles, technical presentations, and links to other websites.

National Laboratory and Principal Investigator Achievements

LANL, Vanderbilt Researchers Receive Best Poster Awards at Gordon Research Conference

During the recent Gordon Research Conference in Rhode Island, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) received two best poster awards for poster presentations by two postdoctoral researchers: Siddharth Komini Babu and Sarah (Eun Joo) Park. One poster was for the Electrocatalysis Consortium (ElectroCat) project and one for the alkaline membrane project. Vanderbilt University also received a best poster award for a poster presentation by a graduate student, John J. Slack, for collaborative Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability (FC-PAD) work.

Andrew Herring, Colorado School of Mines, Wins Storch Award

Andrew Herring, professor of chemical and biological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, received the 2018 Henry H. Storch Award in Fuel Science, sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Energy and Fuels Division during the national meeting in Boston in August. Herring is an internationally recognized leader in polymer exchange membranes for electrochemical applications and fuel science. His research has led to pioneering advances in new catalysts and membranes for electrochemical applications like fuel cells.