Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : SatCon Technology (SATC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (331)	2/3/2000 1:48:00 AM
From: allen v.w.	Respond to of 440

FYI all, NEW FUEL for automotive PEM FC. Daimler Benz is involved with this company. Do your DD. News is from 2/2/00: TULSA, Okla., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Syntroleum Corporation (Nasdaq: SYNM) announced today that Northwest Power Systems, a leading manufacturer of patented fuel cell components, subsystems and fully integrated systems, has certified Syntroleum synthetic hydrocarbon fuels as an effective on-board source of hydrogen to power fuel cells. In reaching its determination, Northwest Power tested synthetic diesel and synthetic gasoline made using Syntroleum Corporation's natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) conversion technology. Syntroleum fuels contain virtually no sulfur, aromatics or metals. The absence of these contaminants in Syntroleum fuels offers significant environmental benefits and an important reduction of fuel cell manufacturing and operating costs. Conventional petroleum diesel must be passed through a heated absorbent bed to remove sulfur compounds prior to being fed into the fuel processor. No such absorbent bed is necessary when processing Syntroleum synthetic fuel. The elimination of this step could lower manufacturing and operating costs of fuel cell fuel processors. Successful use of this synthetic diesel in fuel cells further demonstrates the enabling power of Syntroleum's technology. Synthetic fuels could be easily transported and stored using the existing fuel distribution infrastructure, allowing easier market access than for other fuels traditionally considered for fuel cells, such as methanol and compressed natural gas (CNG). Additionally, Syntroleum fuel has been demonstrated to significantly reduce exhaust emissions in conventional diesel engines. Taken together, these advantages establish synthetic fuels as not only an ideal complement to fuel cell technology, but also one that should help accelerate fuel cell commercialization. "The emerging fuel cell industry faces the same critical challenge that gas-to-liquids technology has faced since the 1920s -- that is the need to lower the capital and operating costs to make the technology economical. With economic GTL technology now available, we believe that the fuels produced by this technology will enable improvements in fuel cell technology in many applications," said Mark A. Agee, Syntroleum's President and Chief Operating Officer. "The lack of sulfur and other contaminants in Syntroleum fuels makes them especially attractive for use in fuel cell systems. Promising applications include residential power generation in remote and rural areas, as well as recreational, portable, and emergency power supplies," said David Edlund, Vice President of Technology at Northwest Power Systems. Syntroleum synthetic fuels performed as well or better than conventional fuels in the NPS fuel cell fuel processor. During short-term tests, Syntroleum diesel fuel yielded sufficient hydrogen to produce 9.05 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity from one gallon of fuel, and Syntroleum gasoline yielded sufficient hydrogen to produce 9.68 kWh of electricity from one gallon of fuel. Under comparable conditions, conventional petroleum-derived diesel fuel yielded sufficient hydrogen to produce 8.67 kWh of electricity from one gallon of fuel. The net result is that during these tests, Syntroleum fuels provided production rates that were 4.4% to 11.6% higher than for conventional fuels. For comparison with conventional power generation of equivalent scale, a commercial diesel generator set (4.8 kW maximum continuous, operating at half load) will produce about 6.9 kWh of electricity from one gallon of fuel, according to manufacturers' sales specifications. For all of these fuels, the hydrogen produced by Northwest Power's fuel processor is exceptionally high, i.e., greater than 99.95% with less than one part per million (ppm) carbon monoxide (CO) and less than five ppm carbon dioxide (CO2). Founded in 1996, Northwest Power Systems is a closely held Bend, Oregon, company owned predominantly by IDACORP Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE: IDA). NPS develops and commercializes fuel processors and fuel-cell systems for low-power stationary, portable, recreational, and emergency/backup applications. Syntroleum Corporation is the leading provider of technology for converting natural gas into synthetic liquid hydrocarbons. Current licensees include ARCO, Enron, Kerr-McGee, Marathon, Repsol-YPF and Texaco. The company is also working with DaimlerChrysler and others on the development of super-clean synthetic diesel fuels.

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (331)	2/11/2000 8:11:00 AM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 440

Semi-OT Tax plan targets alternative energy technologies By George Leopold,EE Times 02/04/00 WASHINGTON ? A $4 billion package of energy tax credits proposed by the Clinton administration on Thursday (Feb. 3) includes an extension of tax credits for electric and fuel-cell vehicles as well as incentives to use solar energy systems. The five-year package is part of the administration's climate change technology initiative to be included in its fiscal 2001 budget proposal to Congress. The budget is scheduled to be released on Monday. The plan calls for extending tax credits for electric, fuel-cell and some hybrid vehicles. The credits are designed to help move advanced electric vehicle technologies from the laboratory to the production line. Slow starters Electric vehicle technology has generated much interest but few sales. General Motors recently scaled back its electric vehicle program, citing sluggish sales. Several car makers have said they will pursue the hybrid electric-internal combustion market. The administration's tax proposal would provide tax credits as high as $3,000 on the purchase of hybrid vehicles from 2003 through 2006. The solar energy tax credit would give consumers and businesses a 15 percent tax credit on purchases of solar heating systems. The maximum credit for a rooftop photovoltaic system would be $2,000 between 2001 and 2007, and $1,000 for solar water heating systems installed between 2001 and 2005. The energy initiative would also simplify the current depreciation schedule for power distribution systems that have helped decentralized power generation. The plan would assign a single 15-year period to recover the investment on power distribution systems Jim