Current NHA Industrial Activities to Move Hydrogen Toward
Commercial Development
by Robert L. Mauro,
Executive Vice President, National Hydrogen Association
Under a U.S. Department of Energy cooperative agreement,
NHA members are developing a hydrogen applications plan. The current thinking
is that this will be a comprehensive hydrogen plan with an industrial perspective.
The purpose of the effort is to reach a collective industry vision and focus
the plan on critical activities aimed at making hydrogen the preferred energy
carrier in the next century. The initial draft plan should be completed
by the end of the year.
During the course of the plan development, there
will be two one and one-half day workshops—in May and October, 1996—to
obtain industry input and comment. In addition to NHA members, selected
non-NHA industry representatives will be invited to the workshops. Meeting
products will be developed by staff and reviewed by NHA members and other
industry attendees.
The first order of business when the codes and
standards workshop convenes will be to have a half-day Work Group meeting
at which Work Group 3’s progress will be discussed and next steps identified.
Work Group 2 will spend the half day developing a work plan, as will Work
Group 1, if sufficient participation is identified.
The ‘Football’ Approach
Early in the workshop a clear vision for hydrogen
should be developed. The clearer the vision, the more likely that critical
common needs will be identified and focused on.
The plan will use a management-by-objective
approach. This approach is like a football game. The objective of the game
is to win. To win, a plan must be developed for the offense, defense, and
special teams (subprograms) with differing strategies.
For instance, the offense’s strategy might
be ball control by running the football. The strategy is composed of a series
of plays with a common philosophy. The offense achieves its portion of meeting
the team’s overall objective by crossing the goal line as often as
possible. (Each touchdown is an intermediate goal.)
The plays a team calls within its strategy of
running the football are its tactics, which depend on down, distance, and
field position (situational analysis); these plays are meant to achieve
the near-term goal of making a first down.
All together you have the objective, offensive
strategy, goals, and tactics which depend on the situational analysis. The
strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analyses go into the strategy
formulation for the season and each game.
Similarities to the Industrial Plan
The industrial plan is designed in a similar way.
It has an overall objective and perhaps one or more strategies. The plan
is broken into different subprogram elements, each with its own objectives,
strategies, and activities. Those activities, in turn, have goals and work
plans that must be executed properly to implement a strategy and achieve
the subprogram objectives.
The first workshop will begin with an overview
of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hydrogen program, HTAP’s recommendations,
and NHA’s mission statement. The discussion then will develop a common
vision using HTAP’s vision as a starting point; attendees will identify
barriers to achieving the agreed-to vision. Program structure options will
then be presented, discussed, and decided upon by the group. Strawman objectives
will be fashioned out of the barriers developed on the previous day, put
into a plan logic chart, and discussed.
These materials will be organized and distributed
to the attendees before the second meeting, at which the entire plan will
be presented and holes in the plan identified. At the second meeting, strategies
will be determined for achieving objectives and meeting shorter-term program
goals. During the second meeting, an identification of next steps will be
made. The results of this workshop will be prepared and sent to NHA members
for review and comment.
Codes and Standards
The DOE Cooperative Agreement also requires that
the NHA conduct codes and standards meetings during the term of the Agreement.
The overall purpose of this activity is to address the safety, codes, and
standards aspects of hydrogen commercialization.
During 1995, two codes and standards workshops
were held which presented the critical codes and standards issues faced
by hydrogen. Those two workshops identified an approach to address the need
for hydrogen codes and standards. It was decided that hydrogen gas standards
analogous to those developed for the natural gas vehicles be modified for
nozzles used to fill vehicles at hydrogen dispensing stations, on-board
gas storage of hydrogen for vehicle use, and for pressures and equipment
at dispensing stations. These issues are similar to NGV1, NGV2, and NGV4
standards.
The International Standards Organization has
focused its activities on liquid hydrogen. Currently, it has three groups
working on various liquid hydrogen issues. The areas of interest are liquid
hydrogen connectors for filling vehicles at dispensing stations, liquid
hydrogen storage tanks for transporting liquid hydrogen between countries,
and specifications for liquid hydrogen for use as a transportation or other
fuel.
During the last workshop at Hilton Head in June,
Work Groups were established for each of the standards areas mentioned above.
The dispensing station work group put together a work plan for engaging
the NFPA and others in the standards development process for hydrogen dispensing
stations. The activity called for evaluating existing codes and standards
to address the extent of a service station facility and the components required
in such a facility.
In addition, the on-board gas storage of hydrogen
for vehicle use has adequate committee membership but has not developed
a work plan. To date, the NHA has no staff for the NGV1 work group. If there
is interest in staffing this work group, please contact Bob Mauro, +1.202.223.5547
or by fax, +1.202.223.5537. ©1996. All Rights
Reserved. A Publication of the National
Hydrogen Association.
This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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