Hydrogen Legal News

Summer 2007

Hydrogen holds great promise as an energy medium, but its fundamental properties – the lightest of all chemical molecules, it is colorless, odorless, combustible, and necessarily maintained under significant pressure for most of its anticipated applications – have given rise to critical questions about:

 

how a new hydrogen energy sector may be regulated from a safety and environmental protection perspective, how receptive the public and regulators may be with respect to the siting and permitting of hydrogen facilities, and what forms of risk and liability exposure may exist for different players (e.g., producers, transporters, retailers, and end users) that will handle hydrogen.

The Bracewell & Giuliani hydrogen team focuses on these critical regulatory, project development, and liability issues, and we are pleased to offer this periodic newsletter as part of our effort to help keep our clients and friends updated on important hydrogen-related developments. We believe that careful consideration of these important legal/regulatory issues will be essential to the success of hydrogen energy businesses, as well as to the overall hydrogen energy sector. We appreciate your attention and invite your thoughts on this issue of the "Bracewell & Giuliani Hydrogen Legal News." 

  

EVENTS AND CONFERENCES

News

NHA Fall 2007 Topical Forum: Hydrogen Uses in the Military (October 2-4, 2007, Columbia, SC)
National Hydrogen Association Web Site
Forum presentations available by clicking on Presentation links (Adobe Acrobat Required).

Critical Energy Choices Conference 2007 (September 18, 2007, Toronto)
University of Ontario Institute of Technology Web Site

Conference presentations available
(Adobe Acrobat Required).

 

Upcoming

NHA National Hydrogen Conference 2008
(March 30 - April 4, 2008, Sacramento CA)
National Hydrogen Association Web Site
 

HYDROGEN ECONOMY

United States and Canada

Air Liquide Canada Unveils Initial Hydrogen Fueling Station
FullCellWorks.com, October 14, 2007
"MONTREAL - Air Liquide Canada, a leading global provider of industrial, medical and specialty gases as well as hydrogen technologies, today helped to inaugurate the first permanent hydrogen fueling station in Ottawa as part of the ongoing 'Hydrogen on the Hill' project."

 

Automakers' Green Initiatives Outpace Government Progress
EETimes.com, October 8, 2007
"Progress has been slow, and technology and cost obstacles remain, but the automotive industry is making strides in developing environmentally friendly vehicles."

 

McGuinty Government Greening Ontario's Economy
Newswire, August 23, 2007
"MISSISSAUGA, ON - The McGuinty government is investing $3 million in six new projects designed to bring innovations to market that will help make Ontario industry more environmentally sustainable, Minister of Small Business and entrepreneurship Harinder Takhar announced today on behalf of the Premier and Minister of Research and Innovation Dalton McGuinty."

 

First Americans Set to Drive the BMW Hydrogen 7 on U.S. Roadways
PRNewswire, August 16, 2007
"BMW today announced the launch of the Hydrogen 7 Pioneer Program as it handed over the keys of a BMW Hydrogen 7 -- the first hydrogen-powered luxury sedan -- to Hollywood actor Will Ferrell."

 

Revolution in Solar Hydrogen on the Horizon
Nanotechnology Now, August 15, 2007
"At Penn State University, a research group headed by professor of electrical engineering Craig Grimes in the Materials Research Institute is 'only a couple of problems away' from developing an inexpensive and easily scalable technique for water photoelectrolysis - the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen using light energy - that could help power the proposed hydrogen economy."

 

New Aerogels Could Clean Contaminated Water, Purify Hydrogen for Fuel Cells
Lightsources.org, July 27, 2007
"ARGONNE, IL - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have identified a new technique for cleansing contaminated water and potentially purifying hydrogen for use in fuel cells, thanks to the discovery of a innovative type of porous material."

Other Countries

Turk to Develop Hydrogen Energy
Turkish Daily News, October 12, 2007
"A technician claims to have developed a system that can produce hydrogen from simple tap water and thus make it possible to have cleaner energy in a world in search of alternative energy sources."

 

New IG Welcomes the Proposal of the European Commission for the Creation of the Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative
(Adobe Acrobat Required).
HFPEurope.com, October 10, 2007
"Today the European Commission announced the adoption of a proposal for establishing a Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative."

 

Hydrogen Powered Bus is Showcased
BBC News, September 25, 2007
"The 16-seater vehicle designed by experts at the University of Glamorgan near Pontypridd is powered by hydrogen.
It is hoped the project will put Wales "on the map" as a leader in developing environmentally-friendly technologies."

 

Iceland Phasing Out Fossil Fuels for Clean Energy
CNN.com, September 18, 2007
"'Iceland is the ideal country to create the world's first hydrogen economy,' Arnason explains. Arnason has caught the attention of General Motors, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler, who are using the island-nation as a test market for their hydrogen fuel cell prototypes."

 

Renewable Energy Act: To Meet India's Future Needs
MeriNews.com, September 12, 2007
"India is all set to formulate a Renewable Energy Act with the target to meet 20 per cent of country’s energy requirements from this sector by 2020....A very futuristic provision made in the proposed law is a definite road map for developing a hydrogen and fuel cell economy."

 

Hydrogen Motors Into Indian Market
CarbonFree, September 6, 2007
"Hydrogen Engine Center, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of alternative-fueled internal combustion engines and distributed power generation equipment, today announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with New Delhi-based Belliss India Limited to sell, deploy, and service its engines and distributed generation equipment in India."

 

Hydro-Vehicle Delivered by Mazda
H2 Daily, August 5, 2007
"A duel fueled RX-8 Hydrogen Rotary Engine is to be delivered to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, by the Mazda Motor Corporation. The vehicle can use either gasoline or hydrogen fuel for power, at the flick of a switch."

HYDROGEN MESSAGE

Liquid Hydrogen Economy the Way Forward?
Gasworld, August 29, 2007
"The future of the clean-fuel hydrogen economy lies in carrying the alternative energy substance in liquid state, argues Robert Crabtree of Yale University, New Haven."

 

News Release: DOE Publishes Progress Report on Fuel Cell Learning Demonstration
U.S. DOE, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web Site, August 3, 2007
"DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory published an Interim Progress Report (PDF 682 KB) summarizing results from the first two years of the Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project."

 

Full-text of Learning Demonstration Interim Progress Report, Summer 2007
(Adobe Acrobat Required).
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Web Site, July 2007

INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS

Valero Plant Explosion Rocks Port Arthur
Beaumont Enterprise, August 6, 2007
"An explosion and subsequent fire at a Port Arthur refinery Sunday was controlled in an hour and posed no threat to the public, a company official said. The explosion occurred at 7:20 p.m. as a result of a leaky hydrogen tank at Valero Port Arthur Refinery."

 

AEP Settles Complaints With OSHA
Marietta Times (OH), August 3, 2007
"American Electric Power recently paid $55,650 in fines to settle OSHA complaints after a fatal Jan. 8 explosion at the company’s Muskingum River power plant near Beverly, AEP officials said Thursday." 

MEDIA

Positive Press

Obama: 'Hydrogen Holds Promise' as Energy Source
FuelCellWorks, October 11, 2007
"'So far, we don't have a magic bullet when it comes to energy -- solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, hydrogen ... All of them have great potential, but so far there have been various technological limits,' Obama said."

Leading Energy Experts Mobilize Minds With Critical Discussion of Ontario's Energy Choices
CNW Group, September 18, 2007
"OSHAWA, ON - Business, government and academia leaders from across the Province are gathered at the Critical Energy Choices Conference 2007 in Toronto today to discuss the future of Ontario's economic and energy requirements and to debate the need to find a significant role in that mix for hydrogen, the 'perfect fuel.'"

Negative Press

The Car's Future Is Now
CourierMail.com (AU), September 24, 2007
"Hydrogen has faded as the darling of the manufacturers."

Opinion: Nuclear Power and a Hydrogen Economy?
Energy Tribune, August 21, 2007
"Many consider hydrogen to be the ultimate in ecologically friendly fuels: 'It reacts cleanly with oxygen to become water with energy, and it’s everywhere. If only we had a good affordable fuel cell.' Yes, hydrogen is everywhere, but it is everywhere as compounds."

 

NASA's James Hansen on the IPCC Forecast
ClimateChangeCorp.com, August 16, 2007
"And while hydrogen may be the fuel of the future, regrettably its generation is now largely done through use of fossil fuels."

 

Commentary: Will Asia Choose Clean Energy or Dirty Energy?
UPI Asia Online, July 31, 2007
"Hydrogen as a fuel is very efficient and produces no greenhouse gases. But it requires a huge amount of power to electrolyze water into hydrogen molecules."

NEW PRODUCTS AND PROJECTS

Hydrogen From Algae: Genetically Modified Algae Could Be Efficient Producers of Hydrogen and Biofuels
Technology Review (MIT), September 27, 2007

 

Alternative Power Sources for Autos Drive Into Spotlight
USA TODAY, September 17, 2007
"The big Frankfurt auto show in Germany, home of the speed-limitless autobahn, bristles with vehicles aimed more at saving petroleum than gulping it. Here in the USA, General Motors (GM) is about to put the largest hydrogen fuel-cell test fleet into consumer hands, and Honda (HMC) is gearing up to launch fuel-cell, diesel and hybrid models."

 

VIASPACE Patent Application Expands Claims to Humidity Sensing in Automobile Exhaust Systems and Factory Emissions
Fuel Cell Works, September 10, 2007
"PASADENA - VIASPACE Inc., a company that transforms proven space and defense technologies from NASA and the Department of Defense into hardware and software solutions, announced today that its VIASPACE Energy unit filed a patent application for expanded claims for use of its new humidity sensor in the external sensing of humidity in exhaust streams of combustion emission gases and for sensing of humidity within a fuel cell system or a combustion device exhaust system." 

 

A Better Way to Make Hydrogen?
Technology Review (MIT), September 5, 2007
A Purdue researcher claims aluminum alloys could make fuel-cell vehicles practical.

 

Alternative Energy: A New Alloy May Revive Hope for the Hydrogen Economy
Economist.com, September 4, 2007
"Hydrogen has long been touted as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels."

 

Liquid Hydrogen Fuel of the Future
Times of India, August 26, 2007
"Forget trying to shove gaseous hydrogen into porous materials for safe storage: the future of the clean-fuel economy lies in carrying hydrogen as a liquid, argues Robert Crabtree of Yale University, New Haven."

 

Home Hydrogen Concept Burns Bright
Gasworld, August 9, 2007
"Although only a concept at present and not available for sale, the Aqueon H20 powered fireplace runs on water and can either be connected into the household plumbing or simply filled with a tank of water. The built-in electrolysis system separates the water into its two components, with the hydrogen immediately burned to produce the fireplace and the oxygen used in limited amounts to add flame colour and brightness."

 

Nanotechnology Provides Bendy Sensors For Hydrogen Vehicles
Science Daily, August 3, 2007
"Recently, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have used their insights into nanomaterials to create bendy hydrogen sensors, which are at the heart of hydrogen fuel cells used in hydrogen vehicles."

 

Nanohorns Will Store Hydrogen
The Future of Things, 2007
"Researchers at Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France have discovered a solution for storing hydrogen inside special carbon nanotubes. This storage solution may have important applications for the future of renewable energy economy, including hydrogen based cars."
 

REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS

New on the Shelf: Canadian Hydrogen Installation Code (CHIC)
CNW Group, July 3, 2007
"QUEBEC - A new Hydrogen Installation Code defining in a comprehensive document the installation requirements
of different types of hydrogen installations heralds a new era for the advancement of the hydrogen economy in Canada."

FEDERAL LEGISLATION

S. 2129, Hydrogen Tax Incentives Act of 2007
(Adobe Acrobat Required).
Status: Introduced, 10/3/07