International Conference Seeks to Expedite Hydrogen Energy Development

July 11, 2008
Man
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal will deliver the conference keynote talk Wednesday, July 23, at 8:30 a.m.

A seminal event in the development of hydrogen's potential as an environmentally clean energy fuel will take place July 22-24 at the University of Wyoming Conference Center.

The Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council's fourth annual Hydrogen Implementation Conference will feature prominent international experts speaking on the global importance of hydrogen energy. Technology experts, industrial leaders, researchers, financial investors and policy supporters will share information and ideas to speed up the progress toward the use of hydrogen.

The Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the United Nations Hydrogen Technology Centre for the first time are collectively involved in looking at near term opportunities in hydrogen energy, says conference chair David Haberman, president of the Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council. He says Robert Dixon of the IEA will lead a panel of representatives from India, Israel, Scotland, Brazil, Poland, Turkey, Canada, China and France for a world view on the implementation of hydrogen energy.

"Worthy of note is there will be a consensus resolution making a clear pronouncement on hydrogen safety," Haberman says.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal will deliver the keynote address Wednesday, July 23, and is expected to emphasize the importance of a diverse portfolio of energy sources as the nation moves toward developing regulations on carbon dioxide emissions.

Bill Gern, UW's vice president for research and economic development, says Wyoming has the resources to emerge as a world leader in developing hydrogen's potential as an environmentally clean energy fuel. He says Wyoming's vast coal resources could be used in the production of hydrogen energy.

Gern points out that researchers Tom Barton at UW's Western Research Institute and Morris Argyle with the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering will be panelists at the conference. The researchers are developing catalysts that make hydrogen from water and carbon monoxide derived from coal gasification. The catalysts will be combined with hydrogen separation membranes to produce pure hydrogen for use as a clean fuel.

The UW School of Energy Resources sponsors the conference, organized by the Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council, a non-profit trade group focusing on hydrogen energy. Also supporting the event are the U.S.-India Business Alliance and the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center.

To register, visit: www.mountainstateshydrogen.com. The agenda for the UW Hydrogen Energy Implementation Conference can be found at: www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=22637.

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