Fuel-cell research center opens at School of Mines

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 9, 2006 at midnight

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A research center to develop fuel-cell technology will formally open its doors in Golden today, after more than two years of planning.

The $3 million lab on the Colorado School of Mines campus is the state's first state-of-the-art facility for the technology that could run the cars of the future.

Two-thirds of the funds came from the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation, which received federal grants for the project. The remaining $1 million was raised from the public and private partners.

The partners include the Gas Technology Institute, the School of Mines, Versa Power Systems Inc. and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

"Colorado is blessed with a number of fuel-cell developers," said Bob Remick, director of the new Colorado Fuel Cell Center and also a research professor with GTI. "One of the reasons why we need the Fuel Cell Center is to help the developers commercialize their product."

The 3,500-square-foot fuel cell center houses about a dozen researchers, and the number is likely to double in the near future. Eventually the lab hopes to attract more than 100 top scientists and researchers.

Remick pointed out that Versa Power, CoorsTek Inc. and Meso- Scopic Devices Inc. are among the major fuel-cell developers in Colorado, along with Ball Aerospace. He said the new center would collaborate on projects with these companies and also with NREL, which has several fuel-cell research projects.

"We hope to create a unique partnership to leverage Colorado's great scientific assets," said OEMC director Drew Bolin .

Some scientists and Detroit carmakers believe that fuel cells will be the alternative to gasoline to run automobiles, while other researchers are studying tiny fuel cells to power handheld devices.

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