A Full Week of Hydrogen Activities at Lake Tahoe Rounds Up H2 Community

by Karen Miller, Coordinator, National Hydrogen Association

Harvey’s Resort Hotel and Casino in beautiful Lake Tahoe, Nevada, U.S.A., was host to a week of hydrogen activities 15-19 September 1997. Monday began with a meeting of the Hydrogen Corridors Council (H2CC), hosted by Jay Keller of Sandia National Laboratories. This first working meeting of the H2CC began with a discussion of the Spring organizational workshops. The mission of the H2CC, as defined in the workshops, is “to catalyze and assist regional efforts to establish and maintain hydrogen corridors that advance the use of hydrogen energy technologies.” Presentations were made by Cross Creek Initiative, Clean Cities, SCAQMD, NHA, and the various regional working groups. Regions and representatives which have been identified to date are:

At the end of the meeting, the NHA agreed to establish a site on the NHA web page to highlight cluster and corridor activities, including demonstrations. In addition, the NHA will feature informative articles in the NHA Advocate provided by the Regional Working Groups, and establish hyperlinks on the Internet for the reader to get additional information. These links may be related websites or E-mail addresses for points of contact for particular activities.

Monday afternoon brought the second meeting of the California Hydrogen Business Council (CHBC). The CHBC has drafted by-laws and nominated officer candidates. They encouraged input from the participants in the room, and plan to have updated by-laws and approved officers by January [see related article].

On Monday evening, informal discussions were held on the existing efforts and future needs for a hydrogen safety manual. Jim Ohi and Cathy Gregoire-Padro of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) facilitated an input session from the hydrogen community. Subjects encountered in the session were the direction of the existing joint U.S.-Canadian collaboration and the perceived needs of industry, both for a U.S. document and for current and future international efforts. A need to create a compilation of existing efforts was identified, and is being investigated by NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Formal hearings of the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel (HTAP) were held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Presentations included topics on the DOE Hydrogen Program, Hydrogen Corridors, Carbon Sequestration, the Stategic Directions Draft Plan, the California Energy Commission, the CHBC, Hydrogen 2000, the NHA, EPRI, Enron, the Nevada Test Site Development, California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Program, and the Hydrogen CD ROM project Mission H2 .

On Thursday, Dr. Patrick Takahashi, Director of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, facilitated a roundtable discussion on the Renaissance Project for the Next Millennium. This project is described in the Summer 1997 issue of the NHA News. Participants were encouraged to “think outside the box” to develop creative solutions to key issues surrounding the car of the future.

The week was capped off with the second NHA Implementation Plan Workshop. The workshop provided a chance for participants to review and revise draft scenarios for reaching the goals in the Hydrogen Commercialization Plan in the following three areas:

In general, any corridor development will hinge on hydrogen-fueled bus development building the needed infrastructure for hydrogen-powered cars and fleets. The scenarios for all three market areas describe a market environment that solves air quality issues in nonattainment areas. These scenarios also connect with areas of current or potential renewable energy activity.

At the workshop, reactions and input to these scenario market development strategies were solicited. Results of this workshop will aid in the development of a formal Implementation Plan which aims to create a vision for commercialization of hydrogen and initiate proactive partnerships to make hydrogen use a reality.

[Anyone wishing to share information regarding hydrogen cluster and corridor activities, including upcoming and ongoing demonstrations, is encouraged to contact Jay Keller (jokelle@sandia.gov). He will coordinate the information with the H2CC activities, and send it on to the NHA for inclusion in an upcoming issue of the NHA Advocate, as well as the NHA Web site. For more information about HTAP, contact Eileen Kalim (kalime@tcplink.nrel.gov).]

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