Part II: Colorado and So. Cal! (Feb 2002)

Dear Friends,

Today, I drove my first hydrogen powered fuel cell car, the very same car that will be driven by George Bush this Monday.

I feel cool.

(To those who are receiving this letter for the first time, I’ve been engaged in a new project over these past seven months, and which could last many more years.  My goal is to circumnavigate the world in a fuel cell vehicle in order to educate the public about this new technology and hasten its global commercialization.  A detailed explanation of my plan can be found on my website, www.fuelcelltrek.com.  This is my second distribution letter regarding this plan, which concerns the second phase, Take-Off: a 6-week tour I’m making around the country to find out more about fuel cell and hydrogen related technology, programs, and people.  The first letter can be found on my web page, if you’re really keen that is)

Colorado:

Since last we spoke, I was recuperating in Steamboat Springs, CO, after getting schooled on the mountain by some punk 5th grade snowboarders.  I then started my week of fuel-cellish appointments.  My first meeting was with Joel Swisher in Boulder, CO.  He is a consultant with the Rocky Mountain Institute, an organization aimed at solving issues in energy, transportation, climate change, and water use through whole-systems thinking.  He specializes in distributed generation (generating electricity near the location of use), a market application in which fuel cells will play an important role.  One interesting thing I learned was that he was heading to Washington D.C. to help the congressmen draft an alternate to Cheney’s proposed energy plan.  Apparently, some of the Senators who oppose the plan were going to filibuster long enough for them to get this alternate plan put together and presented before Congress.  It’s great to talk to one so close to action that will ultimately determine to course of America’s energy future.  I love learning more and more about the elaborate inner-workings of politics.

The next day, I interviewed with Hypercar in Basalt, CO for an internship position.  When I walked into the door, two friendly dogs, and about seven even friendlier people greeted me.  The office was open, airy, bright, and devoid of cubicles.  What a great work environment (DPH take note)!   They explained the Hypercar system to me in detail, and showed me the unique composite materials developed for the car, the mechanical drawings of the vehicle’s systems, and a miniature “Revolution” prototype.

Hypercar is in the process of designing a vehicle, the Revolution, which as the name implies, is a complete revolution in vehicle design.  Instead of asking the question, “How can we design current vehicles better?”, they asked the question, “If we could design a vehicle from scatch using current technologies, what would it be?”  In this way, they’ve transformed the automobile, rather than making slight improvements to an archaic design paradigm.  The Revolution is much lighter than conventional vehicles, and runs off a fuel cell/battery hybrid powertrain, to name just a few changes.  Because it is so light, it can run off a smaller fuel cell, and have a practical driving range on one “tank” of hydrogen gas, thus addressing some of the main drawbacks of fuel cell vehicles: cost and hydrogen storage.

While a working prototype has not yet been developed, they expect to begin this next stage of development soon, which will include a large engineering effort.  I’d love to be a part of this later down the road.   

They took me out to lunch at a great little bistro in a tiny town outside Aspen, then I went on my merry way to the home office of Amory Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute in Basalt, CO.   

Here, I was hoping to meet Amory, one of the great energy policy gurus of the world.  He founded the Rocky Mountain Institute, Hypercar, and has advised top government officials from around the world.  Unfortunately, he was bogged down with the new book he’s writing (Small is Profitable) and was not able to meet with me, but I’m confident we’ll meet in the future.  

The next day I met with John Turner and Jim Ohi of the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, CO.  They seem to be very strong proponents of a sustainable energy system in which hydrogen and renewable technologies will play a key role.  At John’s lab, they are researching bi-polar plate design for manufacturability, and developing new membrane materials for high-temperature PEM type (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cells.  A high-temp membrane will be a crucial piece of the puzzle if PEM fuel cells really are going to take off.  It allows greater fuel flexibility by requiring less purity in the hydrogen fuel stream, it reduces cost by decreasing the amount of platinum required in the cell, and it increases the efficiency of the stack by creating an exhaust stream with useful heat for heat recovery.  PEM’s are the FC type of choice for automobiles, and I expect that once this breakthrough is achieved, fuel cell vehicles become much more competitive with conventional cars.

Jim, on the other hand, is focused on hydrogen infrastructure issues, scenario planning, codes and standards, and safety.  Those two also showed me around their lab, told me about different projects going on throughout the NREL related to hydrogen and fuel cells, and gave me many good contact names.

Finally, I made my way back to Boulder to meet with Jason Burch of Fuel Cell Store.com.  I originally thought this was just a regular store that sells fuel cell demo’s and teaching material.  Actually, they’re a sophisticated company that aims to be the glue that joins fuel cell manufacturers and consumers like you and me.  Currently, since there is very little power-generating fuel cell product on the market for us to buy, they carry mostly educational guides and demonstration kits.  When products like the Coleman Powermate (small fuel cell generator) start coming out, however, they will be the ones to have it.

Southern California:

I drove the rest of distance across the country to arrive in Hermosa Beach, a suburb of LA, where I immediately put on some shorts and rode my bike to the ocean.  It’s great to be warm again.

Monday, I began the four-day International Colloquium on Environmentally Preferred Advanced Power Generation (ICEPAG), put on by the National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC) of UC-Irvine.  This event began on Monday with a four-hour tutorial by a representative from Toyota.  He spoke about the different alternative vehicle programs at the major automotive companies, and the controversial regulatory policies driving their existence.  It was interesting to hear his perspective, because he represents the people in the automotive industry who feel that all the regulations on making cars cleaner are unfair, too difficult, and altogether too demanding.       

The next day was filled with talks on new, up-and-coming stationary power generation technologies.  Experts in their fields discussed such topics as the present and future state of renewable energy technology, gas turbines, next-generation power plants, and the new concept of power parks using distributed generation.

I learned of a program going on in Hawaii (The Hawaii Distributed Energy Resources Gateway Project, located at the Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii) that intends to transform their energy system from one based on fossil fuels, to one based on renewable energy, hydrogen, and fuel cells.  There is also a more developed program like this going on in Iceland, which aims to transform the island into the world’s first prototype hydrogen economy.  

The next day consisted of a full day of talks on such subjects as the stratoshperic impact of power generation, sustainable energy developments, fossil and renewable fuels, and the market evolution for fuel cell technology.

Professor Okimoto from Stanford University gave an outstanding, insightful lecture on the state of the world over the last 50 years, and forecasted what is likely to come in the next 50, in terms of globalization, shifts of power among nations, and the big energy picture. America is the most powerful empire the world has ever seen, and from the end of WWII to 2000, they have led the world to a golden age, a “Pax Americana” (though, arguably, many countries have been left out).  These next 50 years are quite uncertain, and many believe that America, the “Benign Colossus”, is on its way out, partly due to the issue of oil.  America has an Achilles Heel, and that is the Israeli factor.  During the cold war, Russia could have exploited this vulnerability more, but they had difficulty doing it.  In the next half century, as China and other developing nations grow and demand more energy, it is believed that they will be better at exploiting our weakness to bring about a denouement in American power.  Though it is still very unclear what the future for the world nations will be, energy will clearly be a very important piece of the puzzle.    

Another speaker, Byron Wahom from Spencer Management Associates, talked about the “Murky Crystal Ball for the US Energy Future”, which relates somewhat to the prior discussion.  It is indeed a time of great uncertainty for our energy forecast, and such issues as the California energy crisis, the Enron implosion, homeland security, and an unprecedented dependency on IT and emerging technologies for efficiency improvements and lower costs make it only murkier.  In this unclear picture, the question becomes: What energy technologies should be promoted and brought to the forefront, and what technologies should be left behind?   Ultimately, the government must decide by determining how much financial incentive it will offer for clean energy and energy efficient technologies.

Byron ended his talk with a humorous, but sobering quote about the fuel cell industry.  He said, “Fuel Cells are second only to cold fusion in the ratio of megawatts of electricity generated, to conferences held.”  Ain’t that the truth!  Less talk, more action.

All in all, this was a great event.   Representatives attended from a wealth of different institutions attended, such as the National Renewable Energy Lab, PlugPower, Chevron-Texaco, Los Alamos National Lab, Sandia National Labs , California Air Resource Board, Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, Osaka University, Stanford, and other Universities from Taiwan and Korea.  I was able to meet many of these people, view actual fuel cells and microturbines for stationary power generation, and view one of the world’s only hybrid power plants, which uses both fuel cells and a gas turbine to achieve unprecedented efficiency levels (~70%).  

San Diego:

Unfortunately, I was unable to visit Metallic Power due to the proprietary nature of their technology.  While there facility is not set up for visits, I spoke with the director of Human Resources there, and it looks as though I’ll get to view a demo of their system at the California Fuel Cell Partnership.

I did, however, get to some pretty good hippopotami, pandas, koalas, and gorillas at the San Diego zoo, so all was not lost in my trip down there.

Good News:

The greatest news over these past few weeks is that after much uncertainty, I’ve finally landed the perfect internship.  I will be working at the California Fuel Cell Partnership under Ford’s TH!NK program.  My job will consist of working on safety issues surrounding fuel cell vehicles, troubleshooting any technical mishaps that their fuel cell vehicle encounters, driving it to different demo’s and expo’s, and participating in education and outreach activities in different cities.  I couldn’t have asked for a job more fitting for what I aim to do.   This job will begin March 4.  Today, though, I stepped in for some meetings, which is how I got to drive Ford’s Focus FCV car.  It’s no Shelby (Baker), but it does kick a fair amount of booty.  Get ready, The Sponge Life Cometh!

The other piece of good news is that I received a fellowship to study at UC-Davis in the Transportation and Technology Program of the Institute of Transportation Studies.   They have a great fuel cell vehicle program, and also one of the largest biking communities in the world.  Am I in heaven or what?  I’m still waiting on MIT, Princeton, and UC-Irvine to make my final decision on where to go.

Special Thanks:

I’d like to thank all the people who have emailed me, called me, or perused my website since I’ve been away.  Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me.  Sorry if I haven’t had the chance to reply yet, I will.   I’d also like to thank the people along the way that have put this vagabond up for a night (or two, or three).  Thank you Kliney for the great visit in Copper Mountain, for a wicked day of snowboarding (though it seems I always draw blood when I’m on the mountain with you), and for teaching me that even if fruit turns brown, it’s still very edible.  Thank you to the Caesar’s Palace parking garage for the hospitality.  Thank you Fons, Carrier, and Pavlis for a great week of laughs in LA and for the Super Bowl party.  Thank you Ryan and Brandy for taking me to my first movie premier, I love the glitz and glamour of Hollywood!  Thank you Pritch, Melhem, Fons for organizing the spectacular weekend in Vegas, and to all the rest who came, including special guest Brad Rockers, (great to see you again, buddy).  Thank you to Holly and the Steiner girls for the elegant accommodations in San Diego.  Thank you Jim and Sue for taking me out to lunch and for having me over.  Thanks Ben for showing me around Santa Barbara, for the excellent dinner and gracious hospitality.   Thank you to my kind cousins Christine and Bob for taking in distant, unknown family like they were immediate family.  It’s good to know you’re out here when I’m all on my own.  Lastly, thank you Colleen for the really unique weekend in San Francisco.  I had so much fun, and it’s had such a positive effect on me; it was just what I needed.

Cheers to great friends, and beautiful people!

I’m very happy to know that I will be in California at least for the next few months, living and possibly taking a class in Davis, CA, and working in Sacramento.  I hope you all are doing well, and hope to see you soon.  Remember, my place (wherever it ends up being, and I’ve got to do some serious apartment searching soon) is open to any weary traveler.

Sorry to all you East of the Mississippi, but I believe the philosopher James Morrison got it right when he said, “The West is the best!”

 Much Love,

Jonathan

www.fuelcelltrek.com