Hydrogen Newsletter Summer 1996: Hydrogen Markets

Bringing Hydrogen to the Marketplace a Key Theme at World Hydrogen Energy Conference

by James S. Cannon, President, Energy Futures, Inc.

Hydrogen means many things to many people. But, to those who have attended it in the past, the World Hydrogen Energy Conference (WHEC) has long meant only one thing: a rigorous, technical, and totally exhausting four-day review of the nuts-and-bolts work of the world’s leading scientists and academics active in hydrogen research and development.

This year’s event in Stuttgart, Germany, between June 23 and 27 (1996), the 11th biennial event since the global gathering began in 1974, offered a couple of surprises. First, industry showed up as never before with an impressive display of hydrogen products, including several cars and a bus, that are part of demonstration projects with commercialization schedules in sight. Secondly, there was a new emphasis on identifying pathways to commercialization and getting the hydrogen message out from the scientific community and into public education arenas and before the political decision makers.

Not that the scientists and technical types weren’t in Stuttgart in their usual force. The conference proceedings, entitled Hydrogen Energy Progress: XI and available through the International Association for Hydrogen Energy in Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.A., weighed in at an astounding 11 pounds, 4 ounces. Included in the three hard-bound volumes are more than 340 professional papers covering 2,766 pages, a 34% increase over the page counts at either the 1992 Paris (France) WHEC or the 1994 WHEC in Cocoa Beach, Florida (U.S.A.). These papers were presented by their authors at four simultaneous technical sessions and during plenary sessions convened each morning.

In total, more than 700 people from about 45 countries attended the 11th WHEC, record numbers in both categories. The papers were divided into six topics, including five technical topics for hydrogen production, storage and transport, utilization, materials and safety, and fundamentals. In a first for the WHEC, a topic, called “transition to hydrogen-based energy systems,” was provided specifically for examinations of policy arguments in support of hydrogen and for the identification of commercialization strategies for hydrogen technologies. When I submitted a paper to the Paris WHEC organizers in 1992 advocating increased use of natural gas as a bridge to a hydrogen economy, there was no conference topic even close to the issue of marketplace transitions and I was shoehorned into the “national and joint programs” group. In Stuttgart, I was among 48 other presenters whose papers about energy transitions consumed the first 443 pages of the proceedings. Clearly, there is now strong interest in commercializing hydrogen.

The excitement about hydrogen in the marketplace carried over to the exhibition floor where about 20 companies and organizations showed their wares at the indoor and outdoor exhibition areas. Included in the displays were the hydrogen combustion engine-powered bus unveiled in April, 1996, in Erlangen, Germany, and the Daimler-Benz fuel cell vehicle, the NECAR II, which drew worldwide attention during its debut in Berlin in May. BMW turned up not only with its liquefied hydrogen-powered luxury 735i sedan, but its exhibition also included two compressed natural gas models—the two-door 316g and the four-door 518g. A paper presented by BMW eloquently outlined that company’s plan to introduce natural gas vehicles as a stepping-stone to hydrogen vehicle commercialization.

NHA Chairman Keith Prater accepts an award from Hydrogen 2000’s Geoffrey Holland during the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in recognition of the NHA’s contribution to the hydrogen documentary film, “Element One.”

One of the highlights of the evening programs at the WHEC occurred on June 24 when Hydrogen 2000 hosted a reception followed by the world’s first public screening of its new movie, Element One. With original footage shot in the U.S.A., Canada, Japan, and Germany, Element One provides a comprehensive and entertaining look at the promise of hydrogen, especially in transportation applications, to solve the world’s most pressing environmental and energy problems.

This is one of the first films specifically designed to spread the word about hydrogen to nonscientific, lay audiences. The audience responded warmly to the screening and there was considerable discussion about the importance of expanded public education and constituency building to the future success of hydrogen. These issues received their first day in the sun in Stuttgart and there will likely be much more education and outreach work before the convening of the 12th WHEC in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1998.

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