The US Senate voted 88 to 11 to adopt the broadest US energy legislation of the past 10 years. Senators approved the 458-page bill, as well as more than 100 amendments, which will substantially rewrite electricity and gasoline regulations, nearly triple ethanol consumption across 10 years, and require a more than five-fold increase in renewable […]
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) reported its annual financial results for the year ended March 31, 2002 (fiscal 2002). Consolidated operating profit for the year declined to a loss of 211.8 billion yen (US$1.59 billion), as compared with an operating profit of 188.4 billion yen in the previous fiscal year. Consolidated income before […]
The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP, West Sacramento, CA) celebrated the opening of its methanol fueling station, which will provide fuel for methanol-fueled fuel cell vehicles. The first such vehicle to be made available to the CaFCP is the DaimlerChrysler NECAR 5. CaFCP Chairman Don Huberts stated, "We are making great progress to demonstrate alternative […]
The Southern Coalition for Advanced Transportation (SCAT, Atlanta, GA) announced the successful completion of 100,000 test cycles for a high-speed composite flywheel. Tests cycled the flywheel's energy through a simulated hybrid-electric transit bus cycle. The flywheel underwent speed excursions from 27,000rpm to 36,000rpm, with a peak speed of 825m/sec. "These successful tests represent a major […]
ElectroChem Inc. (Woburn, MA) has been awarded a $1.0 million NASA contract for the first-phase development and a $2.5 million option contract for the second-phase development of a fuel cell power plant for the next generation of reusable launch vehicles (RLVs). ElectroChem was one of two companies chosen to develop a pre-prototype proton-exchange membrane (PEM) […]
UQM Technologies Inc. (Golden, CO) announced that it has successfully completed testing and launched the commercial availability of its integrated electric traction system (INTETS), an advanced propulsion system for battery, hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles. The INTETS system is the electrical equivalent of a conventional powertrain consisting of an internal combustion engine, transmission and […]
TechSys Inc. (Florham Park, NJ) announced plans to jointly develop portable fuel cell technology with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA). Financial terms were not available. TechSys reported that it will jointly design the micro direct-methanol fuel cell technology, and will also receive rights to an exclusive license on […]
Trimol Group Inc. (New York, NY) announced the issuance of a US patent protecting the intellectual property rights to an aluminum-air fuel cell technology licensed to it by its majority shareholder, Aluminum-Power Inc. (Canada), for use in portable consumer electronics. The patent, entitled Ecologically Clean, Mechanically Rechargeable, Air-Metal Current Source, was issued by the US […]
H Power Corp. (Clifton, NJ) announced that Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. (Japan) has begun long-term operational trials of a 500W proton-exchange membrane (PEM) residential cogeneration fuel cell system for the Japanese residential market. Testing is planned to last one year and Osaka Gas plans to continue test operations after that on improved prototypes until 2005. […]
Millennium Cell Inc. (Eatontown, NJ) reported an adjusted net loss of $3.6 million, or $0.13 per share (adjusted for non-cash charges), for the first quarter of 2002 ended March 2002. This compares with an adjusted net loss of $1.9 million, or $0.07 per share, for the first quarter ended March 2001. "We are pleased to […]
International Components Corp. (ICC, Chicago, IL) announced the introduction of a new line of battery fuel gauges designed specifically for power tools...
Magnetek Inc. (Nashville, TN) reported earnings of $0.01 and $0.08 per diluted share, respectively, for the third quarter and first nine months of its 2002 fiscal year, ended March 31, 2002. In the same periods of fiscal 2001, the company earned $0.10 and $0.39 per diluted share, respectively. Results of operations divested during fiscal 2001 […]
Exide Technologies (Princeton, NJ) is seeking approval from the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE, for a $7.1 million employee-retention program designed to help it retain 80 key employees and others while it reorganizes under Chapter 11. Exide filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors April 15.
Smart Fuel Cell GmbH (Munich, Germany) announced early production examples of a methanol-fueled device capable of producing 40W of power intended to...
Shenzhen Better Power Battery Co. Ltd. (China) announced its new series of NiMH rechargeable batteries, designed for use in RF optical mouse...