Participants from 18 Countries Attend 15th Annual Conference
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by Karen Hall, National Hydrogen Association

The Hollywood location gave an opportunity to showcase the advances of the State of California in clean energy, as well as draw a bit of celebrity appearances.  At the April 28 awards luncheon, guest speaker Dennis Weaver fired up the crowd with his announcement of “Hydrogen Drive 2004,” an alternative fuel drive across portions of the U.S. and Canada, featuring hydrogen-powered vehicles. More information on the drive can be found at www.HydrogenDrive.com. This drive will provide an annual progress report of the Hydrogen Highways project announced recently by Governor Schwarzenegger. Supporters can even sponsor a mile of the drive and receive a certificate signed by Mr. Weaver. Dennis was supported by his wife Gerry and a few of his friends, who graciously joined us for the luncheon.  They were Larry Hagman, Linda Grey, Mike Farrell, and Shelly Fabares. Dennis and Gerry Weaver joined us in the Universal Studios CityWalk premiere of the new film “The Hydrogen Age.” The film was produced by the Emmy Award winning Hydrogen 2000 and the Worldwatch Institute, and has been sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Prior to the film’s premiere, the NHA and the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) hosted a Ride ’n’ Drive. Press were invited to test drive vehicles fueled with hydrogen from major car manufacturers that are members of the CaFCP, including: DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota.

Celebrity impersonators for Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe entertained us while we waited for our turn to test drive the vehicles. Ballard supplied popcorn powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

The conference was filled with policy and technical sessions, highlighting the progress being made in implementing hydrogen energy policies and technologies in California, the United States, and worldwide! The Plenary sessions were inspiring! Presentations from the Honorable Spencer Abraham, U.S. Secretary of Energy, and Terry Tamminen, Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, resulted in standing ovations. A summary could not do them justice, so I am including their complete speeches in sidebars.

Keynote speakers were:

• U.S. Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham
• Dennis Weaver, International Hydrogen Drive 2004
• Terry Tamminen, Secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency
• Jan van Dokkum, President, UTC Power
• Ben Knight, Vice President, Honda R & D  Americas
• Alan Lloyd, Chairman, California Air Resources Board
• Timothy Vail, Director - Distributed General Solutions, Fuel Cell Commercialization, General Motors
• Mike Jones, General Manager, Hydrogen, BP
• Gilbert Parent, Canadian Ambassador for the Environment
• Nobuhiro Kuriyama, New Energy Development Organization
• Don Paul, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, ChevronTexaco
• Firoz Rasul, Chair of CaFCP and Chairman, Ballard Power Systems
• Scott Samuelson, National Fuel Cell Research Center, U-C Irvine
• Jon Slangerup, CEO, Stuart Energy Systems
• James Sweeny, Professor of Management, Sciences and Engineering, Stanford University
• Brian Williams, Deputy Mayor of Environment, Transportation and Infrastructure of the City of Los Angeles
• Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta, Governing Board Member, AQMD District

A total of 35 parallel sessions provided participants an array of information in subjects including hydrogen strategies for utilities; safety, codes and standards; advanced materials, hydrogen storage, hydrogen production (fossil fuel, nuclear, and renewable); hydrogen pathways; critical perspectives; and more.

The Department of Energy hosted a conference within a conference, by integrating their Hydrogen Infrastructure Analysis Project conference into the NHA conference.

In addition to the conference sessions, many special events this year added to the attendee experience:

• Ride and Drive and Film Premiere
• The first National Hydrogen Financing Forum 
• New Hands-on H₂^TM Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Safety Short-Course
• Hydrogen Fuel Quality Workshop
• The 4th Annual Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Career Seminar
• Award presentations for the First Annual University Student Hydrogen Design Contest
• The first Hydrogen Infrastructure Analysis Symposium
• Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Teacher Training Workshop
• NHA Hydrogen Safety Codes and Standards Workshop

I took away a number of encouraging points from this conference. The first one is that projects are being deployed now to build and test hydrogen vehicle infrastructure. Although many of these stations will initially rely on hydrogen from fossil fuels, this step is critical to creating the knowledge for designing, operating, and using hydrogen for vehicles. Without this type of commitment, we can never hope to reach our goal of implementation of hydrogen energy with as much hydrogen production from renewables as practical. We can not afford to wait for renewable energy to be deployed in quantities that meet the growing needs for stationary power and transportation to take these first steps toward a hydrogen energy economy.

The second is that the world’s energy companies and industrial gas suppliers are committed to a hydrogen future. They are engaged in providing hydrogen now for the critical technology demonstrations, and will be in the business of providing renewably-produced hydrogen in the future.

Proceedings will be mailed to all full conference registrants. Additional CD-ROM proceedings can be ordered from the NHA by calling Terry Atkinson, Administrative Assistant, at 202-223-5547, ext. 303.

The NHA’s 16^th Annual Conference and H2Expo USA will be held in Washington, DC from March 29-April 1, 2005. Stay tuned to www.HydrogenConference.org for more information!

The NHA wishes to thank the following organizations for endorsing the conference:
Alliance to Save Energy
California Fuel Cell Partnership
California Hydrogen Business Council
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies
Clean Air Now!
Energy Independence Now
German Hydrogen Association
Hydrogen Energy Systems Society of Japan
IEA Hydrogen Implementation Agreement
National Fuel Cell Research Center
Solar Energy Industries Association

Sponsors:

Click here for Secretary Abraham's keynote address.

Click here for California EPA Secretary Tamminen's keynote address. ©2003. 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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