BOARD MEETING DATE: March 3, 2006
AGENDA NO. 29

California Fuel Cell Partnership Steering Team Meeting

SYNPOSIS:

This report summarizes the California Fuel Cell Partnership Steer-ing Team meeting held January 24-25, 2006.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, February 24, 2006, Reviewed

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Receive and file.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

CALIFORNIA FUEL CELL PARTNERSHIP

Summary of Steering Team Meeting
January 24-25, 2005

SCAQMD
21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, CA 91765

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEMS

• This was the first Steering Team meeting chaired by John Brady, Vice President Hydrogen Infrastructure, ChevronTexaco with Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta, Governors’ Appointee, AQMD Governing Board serving as Vice-Chair. Wolfgang Steiger rep-resenting Volkswagen was welcomed as the new Steering Team representative.
• Catherine Dunwoody, CaFCP, reviewed the status of the 2005 program plan. The proposal for creating a web-based learnings forum will not be pursued. The PG&E Ztek station opening has been rescheduled for June/July.
• The Program Plan to implement CaFCP Goals for 2006 was discussed and approved.
  Each team was requested to provide a vision for 2006, similar to the effort already made by the Communications team. Outreach to legislators will be a priority. Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta announced that the AQMD Governing Board approved an out-reach program designed to educate and update legislators and their staffs regarding air quality issues. The “Air Quality Institute,” could also be a good way to provide information to this target audience regarding hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles.
• Adam Gromis, CaFCP, provided an overview of CaFCP technical programs, the progress toward goals for 2005, and plans for 2006. Finding a third party to operate and maintain the station test apparatus will be a priority, as will developing a plan to improve access to hydrogen fueling stations, based on the work started this year by the Station Review team.
• Chris White, CaFCP, provided the Communication team goals for 2006, starting with the message “California First.” CaFCP will participate in six major conferences this year including National Hydrogen Association, as well as a few new ones including an emerging technologies conference and an insurance conference. Road Rally will be focused on making each day worthwhile to members. The plan is to begin and end each Road Rally at other major events to take advantage of an existing audience of interest. There will be less focus on driving a route. Preference would be to make use of and showcase existing hydrogen fueling stations.
• Al Weaverstad, GM, summarized the Planning Team discussion so far regarding activities of the CaFCP beyond 2007. The proposed timeframe is 2008-2012, with the theme “building a bridge to market.” Steering Team and Associate members broke up into small discussion groups. Comments regarding the plan were summarized for the entire group. CaFCP staff will compile the feedback for the Planning Committee.
• John Koupal, USEPA, reviewed the joint effort to update the USDOE GREET model with the new EPA MOVES model, in an effort to provide tools for modeling fuel economy and upstream emissions for hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles.
• Ken Koyama, CEC, provided an update on the Bus program. There are 43 hydrogen fueled buses operating in the world now. The Energy Policy Act provides $11M for 2006 and CA is putting together a strong proposal through CalStart to obtain funding.
• Steve Hoffman, Air Products and Chemicals, presented the Station Review team re-port on hydrogen station accessibility and the matrix to be used internally in 2006, to assess current station accessibility and encourage improved access. CaFCP and ARB staff are planning to coordinate their efforts. Anthony Eggert, UC Davis, encouraged existing stations to self-report.
• Phil Baxley, Shell Hydrogen, provided an introduction to their Lighthouse Project, which they consider to be a “rehearsal for commercial.” This program will be as close to commercial hydrogen fueling as possible, which will be developed in Southern CA. Learnings from their first station in Washington, D.C., will be utilized.
• Dr. Scott Samuelson, UC Irvine, was invited to present information regarding the California Stationary Fuel Cell Collaborative. The purpose of this presentation was to discuss the opportunity to work together with the CaFCP in areas of common interest such as energy stations.

The next CaFCP Steering Team meeting is scheduled for April 18-19, 2006 in Sacramento.

Additional information about the California Fuel Cell Partnership can be found at http://www.fuelcellpartnership.org.

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