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This is a late subjective feedback from the General Assembly 2009 of the European Joint Undertaking for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen, which took place 26th and 27th of October in Brussels.
Compared to the years before there were maybe only 2/3 participants. Additionally, I had the impression that the industry was not represented as it should be in a industry led initiative. I realised a majority of non-industry guys from research, SMEs, universities instead.

Coming to safety at least the US DoE representative Sunita Satyapal and the chairman of the IEA HIA Antonio González García-Conde addressed international cooperations and educational activities

A general disappointment was felt regarding the serious delay in the first round of evaluations and negotiations. I heard that at this time not a single project was approved. Some complaints were openly communicated that so far no production topics were supported so far.

Not lacking was general political phrases and speaches. Potentially most is contained in the published slides on http://ec.europa.eu/research/fch/index_en.cfm?pg=sga2009_presentations . There is no relevant information on the Industry Grouping homepage http://www.fchindustry-jti.eu/.

Safety issues were only mentioned by the US DoE representative Sunita Satyapal, the IEA HIA chairman Antonio González García-Conde and Heinrich Lienkamp, Head of Energy and Process Engineering, Infraserv Höchst. The latter referred to a refuelling station accident, whereas the first two mainly addressed cooperation in educatinal frameworks. Antonio González García-Conde mentioned the ICHS conference and the cooperation of Task 19 with HySafe as a sort of prototypical example.

Moreover in the light of some recent negative reactions on safety relevant, prenormative project proposal(s), I wonder what has to happen to make the executive board of the JTI willing to invest the minimum for a safety culture.

Beer from Hindenburg available in an auction (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8352032.stm)

The details are not quite correct. However, may be not appropriate to react on old beer?

Stuart Hawksworth, HSE, will present the NoE HySafe achievements at the Hazards XXI conference November 10th 2009 in Manchester. For the full program see http://www.icheme.org/hazardsxxi/.

Some recent minor leaks in US:

At US Boston University: http://www.dailyfreepress.com/second-hydrogen-alarm-sounds-in-a-week-1.1945071.

At US Washington refuelling station: http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/virginia/va_ap_leak_closes_dc_hydrogen_fuel_station_20091006

For your entertainment, this is what may happen with hydrogen researchers: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/707234–why-a-towed-away-van-led-to-scarborough-evacuation

HySafe welcomes the 7 new members:

• Air Liquide, France
• Andrei Tchouvelev and Associates, Canada
• Danish Technical University, Denmark
• Kingston University, United Kingdom
• Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute, Russia
• Sandia National Laboratory, United States of America
• Universite de Quebec de Trois Rivieres, Canada

Additionally, the Russian Energy Technologies awaits the approval of the General Assembly.

From 16th to 18^th of September more than 200 world leading experts for hydrogen safety and interested stakeholders meet in Ajaccio (Palais des Congres), Corsica, France. For the third time the worldwide unique International Conference for Hydrogen Safety ICHS is organised by the International Association for Hydrogen Safety – HySafe, for the first time in cooperation with the International Energy Agency IEA. All aspects from basic science to insurance of technologies will help the demonstrations currently kicked-off worldwide, the Joint Technology Initiative for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen of Europe for example.

With a considerable financial support the Corse government demonstrates its interest in modern and distributed energy technologies and the related scientific efforts.

The international commitment to introduce hydrogen as an energy carrier is underpinned by several events organised in conjunction with this conference: an ISO and an IEA HIA Task 19 expert group meeting, the summer school for hydrogen safety with more than 80 students, the EC project NATURALHY final meeting and the IA HySafe general assembly. As in the previous conferences 2005 in Pisa, Italy, and 2007 in San Sebastian, Spain, the International Partnership for Hydrogen Economy IPHE integrated its workshop on regulations and standards at this event.

For more information please visit the special conference website

The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) stakeholders’ general assembly will take place on 26 and 27 October in Brussels, Belgium.

First organised in 2008 to mark the launch of the FCH JU, the stakeholders’ general assembly is an annual event designed to inform all interested parties about the activities of the FCH JU and acquire feedback for future planning of the programme. It is also a key platform for European and global stakeholders across sectors to come together to examine and assess the current position of this emerging industry.

The Stakeholders’ General Assembly 2009 is focused on:
– the progress of the FCH JU after its first year of operation and on forward planning of the research agenda;
– an analysis of the market, as well as the political developments affecting the commercialisation of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies.

For further information, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/fch/index_en.cfm?pg=sga2009

There will be an International Hydrogen Safety Codes and Standards Workshop hosted by the Partnership for Advancing the Transition to Hydrogen (PATH), www.HPATH.org. It will be held in conjunction with the World Hydrogen Technologies Convention in New Delhi, India on Saturday, 29 August 2009 from 9:00 am – 1:30 pm.  It is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Workshop Program and printable registration form are now available on PATH’s website at www.HPATH.org.  Participation in the Workshop is open to the public but requires a separate registration from WHTC.  Forms may be completed and faxed to the PATH office in Washington, DC, USA at 1-202-223-5537, emailed Brian Schorr at bschorr@ttcorp.com or you may print the form and bring it with you to New Delhi and register onsite.  Registration for members of PATH Associations (complete list on PATH’s homepage) is $50/Rs.2400 and is $55/Rs.2640 for all other registrants.

US Congress is teaching Energy Secretary Steven Chu a lesson in politics, as it gets ready to stuff $204 million for hydrogen fuel cell research down his throat, the Wall Street Journal reports. See report on http://www.businessinsider.com/congress-forces-the-doe-to-take-hydrogen-funding-2009-7