Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Carbon Nanotubes for On-Board Hydrogen Storage Go/No-Go Decision, 50052-50054 [E6-14047]
Download as PDF
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES1
50052
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 164 / Thursday, August 24, 2006 / Notices
using Integrated Gasification Combined
Cycle (IGCC) technology. Although DOE
funding would support only the
Orlando Gasification Project (i.e., coal
gasifier, synthesis gas cleanup systems,
and supporting infrastructure), the
project would be integrated with a
planned, privately funded, combinedcycle unit, which together would
constitute the IGCC facilities. The
facilities would convert coal into
synthesis gas to drive a gas combustion
turbine, and hot exhaust gas from the
gas turbine would generate steam from
water to drive a steam turbine.
Combined, the two turbines would
generate 285 MW (megawatts) of
electricity. The EIS evaluates potential
impacts of the proposed facilities on
land use, aesthetics, air quality, geology,
water resources, floodplains, wetlands,
ecological resources, social and
economic resources, waste management,
human health and safety, and noise.
Construction of the proposed facilities
would begin in late 2007 and continue
until early 2010. An average of about
350 construction workers would be on
the site during construction.
Approximately 600 to 700 workers
would be required during the peak
construction period between fall 2008
and spring 2009. After mechanical
checkout of the proposed facilities,
demonstration (including data analysis
and process evaluation) would be
conducted over a 4.5-year period from
mid 2010 until late 2014. If the
demonstration is successful, commercial
operation would follow immediately.
The combined workforce (i.e., including
the proposed Orlando Gasification
Project and the combined-cycle
generating unit) would consist of
approximately 72 employees added to
the existing Stanton Energy Center staff
of 204 employees. Of the 72 new
employees, 19 workers would provide
support only during the startup and
demonstration phases of the project,
while 53 employees would be needed
over the lifetime of the facilities (i.e.,
during startup, demonstration, and
commercial operation), unless the
gasifier and related equipment would no
longer be required because the
demonstration was unsuccessful.
Under this latter scenario, only 21
employees would be needed over the
lifetime of the remaining combinedcycle unit using natural gas exclusively.
The facilities would be designed for a
lifetime of at least 20 years, including
the 4.5-year demonstration period. The
new coal gasifier would operate entirely
on coal, consuming a total of
approximately 1,020,000 tons per year
to produce synthesis gas. Two to three
trains per week would deliver low-
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15:15 Aug 23, 2006
Jkt 208001
sulfur subbituminous coal from the
Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The
heating value of the coal would average
about 8,760 Btu/lb and the sulfur
content would average about 0.26%.
Most air emissions would result from
combustion of synthesis gas in the gas
combustion turbine during normal
operations. The exhaust gas would be
released to the atmosphere via a 205 ft
stack.
Sources of air emissions from the
proposed facilities would include the
HRSG stack, startup stack, multipoint
flare, and 6-cell mechanical-draft
cooling tower, of which the HRSG stack
would generate the most emissions.
Except during occasional startups,
shutdowns, and upsets, the flare would
normally have only minimal emissions
associated with eight natural gas-fired
pilot lights. Based on 100% load
throughout the year (100% capacity
factor) using the higher of estimated
synthesis gas or natural gas emission
rates, annual emissions of criteria
pollutants would include 162 tons of
SO2, 1,006 tons of NOX, 189 tons of
particulate matter, 654 tons of carbon
monoxide (CO), and 0.03 tons of lead
(Pb). Annual NOX emissions from the
Stanton Energy Center overall would
not be expected to increase because
OUC has agreed, as part of the
permitting process, to reduce NOX
emissions from other units at the
Stanton Energy Center so that there
would be a net decrease in NOX
emissions. Annual emissions of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), a precursor
of the criteria pollutant ozone, would be
129 tons.
Under the No Action Alternative,
DOE would not provide cost-shared
funding to demonstrate the Orlando
Gasification Project. Without DOE
participation, Southern Company and/
or OUC could reasonably pursue at least
one option. The combined-cycle
facilities could be built at the Stanton
Energy Center without the gasifier,
synthesis gas cleanup systems, and
supporting infrastructure. The
combined-cycle facilities would operate
using natural gas as fuel without the
availability of synthesis gas. During
operation of the natural gas-fired unit,
emissions of air pollutants (e.g., SO2 and
NOX) would be less than those
predicted for the proposed Orlando
Gasification Project. The flare required
for the proposed facilities would not be
required. This scenario would not
provide a low-cost fuel source for the
combined-cycle facilities and would not
contribute to the goal of the CCPI
program, which is to accelerate
commercial deployment of advanced
coal technologies that provide the
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
United States with clean, reliable, and
affordable energy.
Availability of the Draft EIS
Copies of this Draft EIS have been
distributed to Members of Congress,
Federal, State, and local officials, and
agencies, organizations and individuals
who may be interested or affected. This
Draft EIS will be available on the
Internet at: https://www.eh.doe.gov/
nepa/. Additional copies can also be
requested by telephone at: (412) 386–
6065, or (888) 322–7436, x6065. Copies
of the Draft EIS are also available for
public review at the Alafaya Library,
1200 E. Colonial Dr., Orlando, Florida,
32803.
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 18,
2006.
Mark J. Matarrese,
Director, Office of Environment, Security,
Safety and Health, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 06–7093 Filed 8–23–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy; Carbon Nanotubes
for On-Board Hydrogen Storage Go/
No-Go Decision
Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of request for technical
input to go/no-go decision.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy
(the Department or DOE), Hydrogen,
Fuel Cells and Infrastructure
Technologies Program, is requesting
position papers or other technical
documentation regarding carbon
nanotubes for on-board hydrogen
storage systems by September 15, 2006.
This information will be used as part of
DOE’s go/no-go process in determining
the future of applied research and
development of carbon nanotubes for
on-board hydrogen storage.
DATES: Written position papers or other
technical documentation for
consideration by the Department
regarding this decision are welcome.
Documents may be submitted via e-mail
or as hard copies but must be received
by September 15, 2006.
ADDRESSES: For hard copies, please
submit 2 copies of all documents to:
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, Mail Station EE–2H, Attn: Dr.
Sunita Satyapal, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585–
0121. For e-mail submissions, send
documents to
E:\FR\FM\24AUN1.SGM
24AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 164 / Thursday, August 24, 2006 / Notices
brinda.thomas@ee.doe.gov and
laura.verduzco@ee.doe.gov.
Dr.
Sunita Satyapal, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Mail Station EE–2H,
1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585–0121, Phone:
(202) 586–2336, e-mail:
sunita.satyapal@ee.doe.gov.
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, launched in 2003,
accelerates research, development and
demonstration of hydrogen production,
delivery and storage technologies to
enable technology readiness. A critical
requirement for achieving technology
readiness is the development of onboard hydrogen storage systems with
enough storage capacity to meet driving
range expectations (more than 300 miles
in the United States), while meeting a
number of requirements such as weight,
volume and cost. Detailed technical
targets developed by DOE, with input
through the FreedomCAR and Fuel
Partnership, are available at: https://
www1.eere.energy.gov/
hydrogenandfuelcells/mypp/pdfs/
storage.pdf.
The DOE Hydrogen Program initiated
research to develop single wall carbon
nanotubes as a storage medium for
hydrogen in the early 1990s. At that
time, the overall Program had limited
resources and storage research and
development (R&D) was limited to just
a few material classes. Initial hydrogen
capacity measurements on nanotubes
had appeared promising, but some of
these results were subsequently found
not to be reproducible. Uncertainty in
the performance of carbon nanotubes as
a storage material grew as other research
groups initiated their own efforts on this
material and published hydrogen
capacity results ranging from 0 to well
over 6 wt.%. Importantly, the
differences in hydrogen capacity could
not be correlated with specific carbon
nanotube synthesis methods or with
various properties of the carbon
nanotube structure. Although the
number of publications and the
worldwide level of effort on carbon
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES1
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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Jkt 208001
nanotube R&D have continued to grow
and important progress has been
achieved, uncertainties remain
concerning hydrogen storage capacity.
Subsequent to the DOE’s no-go
decision for on-board fuel processing of
gasoline in 2004 (see: https://
www1.eere.energy.gov/
hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/
committee_report.pdf), the strategy for
fueling fuel cell vehicles shifted from an
on-board reformer-based fuel system to
the development of technologies and
infrastructure to produce, store, and
distribute hydrogen for on-board storage
and use in direct-hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles. Development of viable onboard hydrogen storage systems became
a critical element within the Program.
Consequently, the hydrogen storage
Program has greatly expanded and
restructured into a ‘‘National Hydrogen
Storage Project’’ including three Centers
of Excellence and independent projects
covering a diverse portfolio of hydrogen
storage R&D. Each Center of Excellence
is focusing on a class of storage
materials—metal (reversible) hydrides,
chemical hydrides (non-reversible) and
carbon (and other hydrogen adsorbent)
materials—and each has university,
industry and national lab partners
pursuing and leveraging their specific
expertise in different areas. The Program
has also expanded basic science efforts
and coordination between DOE’s Office
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy and Office of Science (see
www.hydrogen.energy.gov).
Within the current storage subProgram portfolio, there are a number of
promising storage materials being
studied which have the potential for
hydrogen storage capacities comparable
to, or greater than initially envisioned
for carbon nanotubes. For example,
modeling studies of metal-modified
carbon fullerene structures suggest that
they hold promise for achieving high
hydrogen capacities. Non-carbon
structures, such as metal-oxide
frameworks, are also being pursued in
the Center of Excellence for carbonbased materials. On-board hydrogen
storage systems must be developed
which are safe, low cost and have high
volumetric and gravimetric energy
capacities. Periodic assessments and
decision points on specific material
technologies are included within the
hydrogen storage sub-Program to meet
the required performance targets within
the Program timeframe.
The DOE will make a decision
regarding the future of pure carbon
nanotubes for on-board hydrogen
storage activities within the Hydrogen,
Fuel Cells and Infrastructure
Technologies Program in October 2006.
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
50053
DOE will review the current state of
carbon nanotube activities against
technical criteria and base its pure
carbon single-wall nanotube go/no-go
decision on an analysis of:
(1) The technical progress to date on
the demonstrated capacity for hydrogen
storage in pure, undoped carbon singlewalled nanotubes (SWNTs) and whether
SWNTs have met the criterion of 6
weight percent hydrogen storage (on a
materials basis) at room temperature,
and
(2) Whether a technically viable
pathway exists to meet the original
criterion of 6 weight percent at room
temperature using either pure, undoped
SWNTs or a ‘‘hybrid’’ approach (e.g.,
metal doped nanotubes).
DOE will consider whether its 2007 or
2010 system targets can be met using
available pure nanotube technology as
demonstrated on the laboratory scale. A
single system that meets all criteria
simultaneously is desired; however, if
integration with other technologies is
needed to simultaneously meet all
targets, the technologies must be
compatible.
DOE will also take into consideration
input on the following:
(1) Whether hydrogen adsorption in
carbon nanotubes at low temperature
(77 K) should be considered at this early
stage of the DOE R&D Program (although
the original criterion of 6 weight percent
was at room temperature), and
(2) Whether SWNTs may be used as
model materials for fundamental
research, theoretical simulation and an
improved understanding of nanoscale
hydrogen storage mechanisms and the
interplay between factors such as
charge/discharge efficiency,
thermodynamics/kinetics
considerations, and volumetric/
gravimetric capacities.
Position papers or other technical
documents relevant to the go/no-go
decision will be accepted by DOE for
consideration in this decision. Position
papers are limited to 10 pages
maximum, and should contain a cover
page with a point of contact, company
name, address and e-mail address. The
cover page will not be counted in the 10
page limitation. Technical documents,
such as published journal articles or
preprints, are not restricted to the page
limit. Position papers and other
technical documents will be made
available to the public and should not
contain any proprietary information.
For more information about the
Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure
Technologies Program and related onboard hydrogen storage activities visit
the Program’s Web site at
E:\FR\FM\24AUN1.SGM
24AUN1
50054
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 164 / Thursday, August 24, 2006 / Notices
www.eere.energy.gov/
hydrogenandfuelcells.
Issued in Golden, CO on August 10, 2006.
Matthew A. Barron,
Acting Procurement Director, Golden Field
Office.
[FR Doc. E6–14047 Filed 8–23–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. ER00–3614–004]
BP Energy Company, BPWest Coast
Products LLC; Notice of Filing
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES1
August 18, 2006.
On August 10, 2006, BP Energy
Company (BP Energy) and BP West
Coast Products LLC filed a
supplemental informational filing
relating to BP Energy’s June 17, 2002
triennial market-power update and June
17, 2005 triennial market power update
filed by BP Energy on behalf of itself
and its affiliates in the above-captioned
dockets.
Any person desiring to intervene or to
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of
Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211
and § 385.214) on or before 5 p.m.
Eastern time on the specified comment
date. It is not necessary to separately
intervene again in a subdocket related to
a compliance filing if you have
previously intervened in the same
docket. Protests will be considered by
the Commission in determining the
appropriate action to be taken, but will
not serve to make protestants parties to
the proceeding. Anyone filing a motion
to intervene or protest must serve a copy
of that document on the Applicant. In
reference to filings initiating a new
proceeding, interventions or protests
submitted on or before the comment
deadline need not be served on persons
other than the Applicant.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper, using the
FERC Online links at https://
www.ferc.gov. To facilitate electronic
service, persons with Internet access
who will eFile a document and/or be
listed as a contact for an intervenor
must create and validate an
eRegistration account using the
eRegistration link. Select the eFiling
link to log on and submit the
intervention or protests.
Persons unable to file electronically
should submit an original and 14 copies
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15:15 Aug 23, 2006
Jkt 208001
of the intervention or protest to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First St. NE., Washington, DC
20426.
The filings in the above proceedings
are accessible in the Commission’s
eLibrary system by clicking on the
appropriate link in the above list. They
are also available for review in the
Commission’s Public Reference Room in
Washington, DC. There is an
eSubscription link on the Web site that
enables subscribers to receive e-mail
notification when a document is added
to a subscribed dockets(s). For
assistance with any FERC Online
service, please e-mail
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. or call
(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call
(202) 502–8659.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on August 31, 2006.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–14013 Filed 8–23–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. CP06–430–000]
Columbia Gas Transmission
Corporation; Notice of Application
August 17, 2006.
Take notice that on August 15, 2006,
Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation
(Columbia), 1700 MacCorkle Avenue,
SE., Charleston, West Virginia, filed in
Docket No. CP06–430–000 an
application pursuant to Section 7 of the
Natural Gas Act (NGA), as amended, for
authorization to permit Columbia to
increase the maximum volume of gas in
storage in certain storage fields in
Bedford and Washington Counties,
Pennsylvania; Kanawha, Randolph,
Pocahontas, Putnam, and Preston
Counties, West Virginia; and Hocking
and Lorain Counties, Ohio, on a
temporary basis from August 2006 to
April 2007, to a level above the amount
currently certificated by the
Commission, all as more fully set forth
in the application which is on file with
the Commission and open to public
inspection. This filing may also be
viewed on the Commission’s Web site at
https://www.ferc.gov using the
‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Enter the docket
number, excluding the last three digits,
in the docket number field to access the
document. For assistance, call (202)
502–8659 or TTY, (202) 208–3676.
PO 00000
Frm 00029
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Any questions regarding this
application should be directed to
Fredric J. George, Lead Counsel,
Columbia Gas Transmission
Corporation, P.O. Box 1273, Charleston
West Virginia 25325–1273; telephone
(304) 357–2359, fax (304) 357–3206.
There are two ways to become
involved in the Commission’s review of
this project. First, any person wishing to
obtain legal status by becoming a party
to the proceedings for this project
should, on or before the comment date
stated below, file with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,
a motion to intervene in accordance
with the requirements of the
Commission’s Rules of Practice and
Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 385.211)
and the Regulations under the NGA (18
CFR 157.10). A person obtaining party
status will be placed on the service list
maintained by the Secretary of the
Commission and will receive copies of
all documents filed by the applicant and
by all other parties. A party must submit
14 copies of filings made with the
Commission and must mail a copy to
the applicant and to every other party in
the proceeding. Only parties to the
proceeding can ask for court review of
Commission orders in the proceeding.
However, a person does not have to
intervene in order to have comments
considered. The second way to
participate is by filing with the
Secretary of the Commission, as soon as
possible, an original and two copies of
comments in support of or in opposition
to this project. The Commission will
consider these comments in
determining the appropriate action to be
taken, but the filing of a comment alone
will not serve to make the filer a party
to the proceeding. The Commission’s
rules require that persons filing
comments in opposition to the project
provide copies of their protests only to
the party or parties directly involved in
the protest.
Persons who wish to comment only
on the environmental review of this
project should submit an original and
two copies of their comments to the
Secretary of the Commission.
Environmental commentors will be
placed on the Commission’s
environmental mailing list, will receive
copies of the environmental documents,
and will be notified of meetings
associated with the Commission’s
environmental review process.
Environmental commentors will not be
required to serve copies of filed
documents on all other parties.
However, the non-party commentors
will not receive copies of all documents
filed by other parties or issued by the
E:\FR\FM\24AUN1.SGM
24AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 164 (Thursday, August 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50052-50054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14047]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Carbon
Nanotubes for On-Board Hydrogen Storage Go/No-Go Decision
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of request for technical input to go/no-go decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (the Department or DOE), Hydrogen,
Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program, is requesting
position papers or other technical documentation regarding carbon
nanotubes for on-board hydrogen storage systems by September 15, 2006.
This information will be used as part of DOE's go/no-go process in
determining the future of applied research and development of carbon
nanotubes for on-board hydrogen storage.
DATES: Written position papers or other technical documentation for
consideration by the Department regarding this decision are welcome.
Documents may be submitted via e-mail or as hard copies but must be
received by September 15, 2006.
ADDRESSES: For hard copies, please submit 2 copies of all documents to:
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, Mail Station EE-2H, Attn: Dr. Sunita Satyapal, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. For e-mail
submissions, send documents to
[[Page 50053]]
brinda.thomas@ee.doe.gov and laura.verduzco@ee.doe.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Sunita Satyapal, U.S. Department
of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail
Station EE-2H, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-
0121, Phone: (202) 586-2336, e-mail: sunita.satyapal@ee.doe.gov.
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, launched in
2003, accelerates research, development and demonstration of hydrogen
production, delivery and storage technologies to enable technology
readiness. A critical requirement for achieving technology readiness is
the development of on-board hydrogen storage systems with enough
storage capacity to meet driving range expectations (more than 300
miles in the United States), while meeting a number of requirements
such as weight, volume and cost. Detailed technical targets developed
by DOE, with input through the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, are
available at: https://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/mypp/
pdfs/storage.pdf.
The DOE Hydrogen Program initiated research to develop single wall
carbon nanotubes as a storage medium for hydrogen in the early 1990s.
At that time, the overall Program had limited resources and storage
research and development (R&D) was limited to just a few material
classes. Initial hydrogen capacity measurements on nanotubes had
appeared promising, but some of these results were subsequently found
not to be reproducible. Uncertainty in the performance of carbon
nanotubes as a storage material grew as other research groups initiated
their own efforts on this material and published hydrogen capacity
results ranging from 0 to well over 6 wt.%. Importantly, the
differences in hydrogen capacity could not be correlated with specific
carbon nanotube synthesis methods or with various properties of the
carbon nanotube structure. Although the number of publications and the
worldwide level of effort on carbon nanotube R&D have continued to grow
and important progress has been achieved, uncertainties remain
concerning hydrogen storage capacity.
Subsequent to the DOE's no-go decision for on-board fuel processing
of gasoline in 2004 (see: https://www1.eere.energy.gov/
hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/committee_report.pdf), the strategy for
fueling fuel cell vehicles shifted from an on-board reformer-based fuel
system to the development of technologies and infrastructure to
produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for on-board storage and use in
direct-hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Development of viable on-board
hydrogen storage systems became a critical element within the Program.
Consequently, the hydrogen storage Program has greatly expanded and
restructured into a ``National Hydrogen Storage Project'' including
three Centers of Excellence and independent projects covering a diverse
portfolio of hydrogen storage R&D. Each Center of Excellence is
focusing on a class of storage materials--metal (reversible) hydrides,
chemical hydrides (non-reversible) and carbon (and other hydrogen
adsorbent) materials--and each has university, industry and national
lab partners pursuing and leveraging their specific expertise in
different areas. The Program has also expanded basic science efforts
and coordination between DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy and Office of Science (see www.hydrogen.energy.gov).
Within the current storage sub-Program portfolio, there are a
number of promising storage materials being studied which have the
potential for hydrogen storage capacities comparable to, or greater
than initially envisioned for carbon nanotubes. For example, modeling
studies of metal-modified carbon fullerene structures suggest that they
hold promise for achieving high hydrogen capacities. Non-carbon
structures, such as metal-oxide frameworks, are also being pursued in
the Center of Excellence for carbon-based materials. On-board hydrogen
storage systems must be developed which are safe, low cost and have
high volumetric and gravimetric energy capacities. Periodic assessments
and decision points on specific material technologies are included
within the hydrogen storage sub-Program to meet the required
performance targets within the Program timeframe.
The DOE will make a decision regarding the future of pure carbon
nanotubes for on-board hydrogen storage activities within the Hydrogen,
Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program in October 2006. DOE
will review the current state of carbon nanotube activities against
technical criteria and base its pure carbon single-wall nanotube go/no-
go decision on an analysis of:
(1) The technical progress to date on the demonstrated capacity for
hydrogen storage in pure, undoped carbon single-walled nanotubes
(SWNTs) and whether SWNTs have met the criterion of 6 weight percent
hydrogen storage (on a materials basis) at room temperature, and
(2) Whether a technically viable pathway exists to meet the
original criterion of 6 weight percent at room temperature using either
pure, undoped SWNTs or a ``hybrid'' approach (e.g., metal doped
nanotubes).
DOE will consider whether its 2007 or 2010 system targets can be
met using available pure nanotube technology as demonstrated on the
laboratory scale. A single system that meets all criteria
simultaneously is desired; however, if integration with other
technologies is needed to simultaneously meet all targets, the
technologies must be compatible.
DOE will also take into consideration input on the following:
(1) Whether hydrogen adsorption in carbon nanotubes at low
temperature (77 K) should be considered at this early stage of the DOE
R&D Program (although the original criterion of 6 weight percent was at
room temperature), and
(2) Whether SWNTs may be used as model materials for fundamental
research, theoretical simulation and an improved understanding of
nanoscale hydrogen storage mechanisms and the interplay between factors
such as charge/discharge efficiency, thermodynamics/kinetics
considerations, and volumetric/gravimetric capacities.
Position papers or other technical documents relevant to the go/no-
go decision will be accepted by DOE for consideration in this decision.
Position papers are limited to 10 pages maximum, and should contain a
cover page with a point of contact, company name, address and e-mail
address. The cover page will not be counted in the 10 page limitation.
Technical documents, such as published journal articles or preprints,
are not restricted to the page limit. Position papers and other
technical documents will be made available to the public and should not
contain any proprietary information.
For more information about the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and
Infrastructure Technologies Program and related on-board hydrogen
storage activities visit the Program's Web site at
[[Page 50054]]
www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells.
Issued in Golden, CO on August 10, 2006.
Matthew A. Barron,
Acting Procurement Director, Golden Field Office.
[FR Doc. E6-14047 Filed 8-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P