Fuel-cell project planned
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A joint government and private business project to develop a hydrogen fuel cell research facility in Hawai'i officially began yesterday at a Hawaiian Electric Co. site on Cooke Street in Kaka'ako.
Called the Hawai'i Fuel Cell Test Facility and financed with a $1.5 million U.S. Department of Defense research appropriation, the project joins the University of Hawai'i School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology's Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute with HECO and Connecticut-based UTC Fuel Cells to develop low-cost fuel cells and promote their use for commercial and military purposes.
"Hawai'i has everything it takes to be a world leader in hydrogen production, storage and applications," said Rick Rocheleau, program manager for the project. "The primary activity in this facility will be the scientific testing of fuel cells. Looking at the engineering associated with the optimal performance, durability, those type of issues."
Fuel cells generate electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen without combustion. A fuel cell operates like a battery but does not run down or require recharging. It produces electricity as long as fuel is supplied. The cells are generally modular, quiet and have low emissions.
The fuel for the cells is usually hydrogen-extracted natural gas, which is not available in Hawai'i. Hydrogen can also be extracted from synthetic natural gas derived from fossil fuel.
The Hawai'i project will focus on alternative fuel sources such as biofuels and methane hydrates found in sea-floor sediments.
HECO is providing the 4,000-square-foot warehouse for only $10 a month and supplying utilities to help with the project.
"New energy sources must be a part of Hawai'i energy future," said T. Michael May, HECO president and chief executive officer. "And HECO is pleased to help move Hawai'i in that direction with facilities and support staff to help get the testing facility up and running."
When completed, the facility will house up to eight fuel cell test "stands" and related facilities supporting fuel cell development. UTC vice president Mark Morelli said this will give the UH test a capability not found at any other university.
"We are looking for demonstration programs to help us commercialize hydrogen-based fuel cells for using alternative fuels ... in the 2003-2004 time frame," Morelli said.
UTC has already developed fuel-cell power plants in a postal facility in Alaska, a brewery in Japan, a wastewater treatment plant in Germany and at a police station in New York City's Central Park. Each power plant produces 200 kilowatts of electricity and 900,000 BTUs of usable heat.
Smaller units have been developed for homes and cars.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who helped secure initial financing for the facility, said fuel cell technology could change the course of world history.
"If you look at the root of our (global) conflicts, you would have seen fossil fuel," Inouye said. "That is why we are in the Persian Gulf, and in many ways that is why we are in Afghanistan. Here we have the potential we have been looking for. The smart boys in Detroit ... have decided that the No. 1 automobile in the future will be one that uses the fuel cell."
Inouye said the military is eagerly awaiting this technology for submarine use.
"This will make it possible for out nation to step forward and someday say to itself 'We are independent. We don't have to kowtow to others to get fossil fuel. We don't have to go to war for oil.'
"Some day all of us will gather in this warehouse and say this is where it all began."
The facility is expected to be operational by late summer.
