[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 4, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5331-5332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2272]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


On-Board Fuel Processing Go/No-Go Decision

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Golden Field 
Office, Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of on-board fuel processing go/no-go decision.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (the Department or DOE) today gives 
notice of the June 30, 2004, decision regarding the future of on-board 
fuel processing activities within the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and 
Infrastructure Technologies Program. A review panel has been assembled 
by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to review the 
current state of fuel processing activities against technical criteria. 
Based on the panel findings, NREL will submit a written recommendation 
to the Department regarding the technical decision regarding the future 
of on-board processing activities on or before June 18, 2004. The NREL 
review panel will meet during the May 24 through June 18 time frame to 
hear presentations that include data to support the technical decision. 
Position papers regarding the go/no-go decision will be accepted by DOE 
for consideration in this decision and will also be forwarded to NREL 
for consideration as a presentation to the review panel. Position 
papers are limited to 10 pages maximum.

DATES: Written position papers for consideration by the Department 
regarding this decision must be received by May 15, 2004. NREL must 
receive requests to speak before the review panel no later than May 15, 
2004. Attendees at the review panel will be limited to the current 
presenter, the panel and NREL, Argonne National Laboratory and DOE 
representatives.

ADDRESSES: Written position papers regarding the decision and requests 
to speak before the review panel are welcomed. Please submit 10 copies 
of the position paper to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail Station EE-2H, Attn: Valri 
Lightner, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, e-
mail <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#186e79746a713674717f706c767d6a587d7d367c777d367f776e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1761767b657e397b7e707f637972655772723973787239707861">[email protected]</span></a>. Requests to present before the panel 
should be sent to: U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy 
Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393, Attn: Dale 
Gardner or via e-mail to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#791d18151c261e180b1d171c0b39170b1c15571e160f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d6b2b7bab389b1b7a4b2b8b3a496b8a4b3baf8b1b9a0">[email protected]</span></a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Valri Lightner, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail Station 
EE-2H, Attn: Valri Lightner, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC 20585-0121, phone: (202) 586-0937, e-mail <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2f594e435d4601434648475b414a5d6f4a4a014b404a01484059"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4d3b2c213f246321242a253923283f0d282863292228632a223b">[email protected]</span></a> 
or Mr. Dale Gardner, U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable 
Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393, Attn: 
Dale Gardner, phone (303) 275-3020, e-mail <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#44202528211b232536202a2136042a3621286a232b32"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ceaaafa2ab91a9afbcaaa0abbc8ea0bcaba2e0a9a1b8">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of the Department of Energy's 
Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program is to 
research, develop and validate fuel cell and hydrogen production, 
delivery, and storage technologies such that hydrogen from diverse 
domestic resources will be used in a clean, safe, reliable and 
affordable manner in fuel cell vehicles; central station electric power 
production; distributed thermal electric; and combined heat and power 
applications. The President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative accelerates 
research, development and demonstration of hydrogen production, 
delivery and storage technologies to support an industry 
commercialization decision on the hydrogen economy by 2015. The 
FreedomCAR partnership is on track for an industry commercialization 
decision on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2015.
    The transition to a hydrogen economy will take decades. During this 
transition, from about 2010 to 2030, technologies that enable the use 
of the current liquid fuels infrastructure to provide the hydrogen to 
power fuel cell vehicles will be required. Several options are being 
considered, such as fuel reforming on-site at fueling stations or fuel 
reforming on-board the vehicle for transportation applications. The 
Department has funded research and development (R&D) of on-board 
vehicle, fuel processing technologies for 10 years. The R&D has focused 
on the development of a fuel flexible, fuel processor targeting 
gasoline, ethanol, methanol and natural gas. Based on the

[[Page 5332]]

current state of technology development, it is uncertain that on-board 
fuel processing activities will be on track to meet the ultimate 
technical criteria to support the transition to a hydrogen economy as 
shown in Table 1.

                                                    Table 1.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             2003
             Attribute                      Units           status     2004 demo criteria      Ultimate target
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transient.........................  sec..................        60  <5, 10% to 90% and     <1, 10% to 90% and
                                                                      90% to 10%.            90% to 10%
Start-up Time.....................  sec..................      <600  <60 to 90% traction    <2 to 10%, <30 to
                                                           (+20<deg   power.                 90%
                                                                <C)
Start-up Energy...................  MJ/50kWe.............  ........  <2...................  <2
Efficiency........................  %....................        78  78...................  <ls-thn-eq>80
Power density.....................  W/L..................       700  700..................  2,000
Durability........................  hours................      2000  2000 and <ls-thn-      5,000 and 20,000
                                                                      eq>50 stop/starts.     starts
Sulfur Tolerance..................  ppb..................  ........  <50 out from 30 ppm    <10 out from 30 ppm
                                                                      in.                    in
Turndown, cost....................  ratio................  ........  20:1.................  <ls-thn-eq>50:1
                                    $/kWe................        65  n/a..................  <10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Specifically challenging are start-up time/energy and cost. The 
Department has decided to review the current state of on-board fuel 
processing and the technology path forward as a ``Go/No-Go Decision'' 
whether to continue on-board fuel processing activities in June 2004. 
The criteria for the review will be to demonstrate that the 2004 
demonstration criteria can be met using available technology as 
demonstrated in experimental hardware. A clear technical path to 
achieving the ultimate targets is also required. It is desired that a 
single system be demonstrated that meets all criteria simultaneously; 
however, if integration with other technologies is needed to 
simultaneously meet all targets, the technologies must be compatible. 
For more information about the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure 
technologies Program and related fuel processing activities visit the 
program's Web site at www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells.

    Issued in Golden, Colorado, on January 21, 2004.
Mary Hartford,
Acting Director, Office of Acquisition and Financial Assistance.
[FR Doc. 04-2272 Filed 2-3-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P


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