Home Power | Green Energy News

October 13, 2002 – Vol.7 No.29

HOME POWER.

By the end of 2000 49.1 million homes in the U.S.- 51 percent of all homes - were heated with natural gas. All of those homes, connected to natural gas supply lines, could also be using natural gas to supply electricity and fuel the cars parked in their driveways if Honda pushes ahead with its plans, and is successful.

Last week in this publication we saw that Honda will begin marketing home natural gas fueling stations for compressed natural gas (CNG) cars.

This week Honda R&D Company and Plug Power have announced a joint development agreement where the companies will develop hydrogen fuel cell cogenerators that could provide electricity, heat and hot water for homes as well as reform enough natural gas into hydrogen to fuel the family fuel cell car.

Beginning with one of Plug Power’s GenSys(TM)5C stationary residential fuel cell systems, additional components will be integrated to complete the home vehicle refueling concept.

According to Plug Power this is the first phase, of many expected with Honda, geared to bring this technology to the market. Honda apparently feels, and rightly so, that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and a refueling infrastructure must be built in parallel. If there is no national effort to build a hydrogen infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles, then Honda will build its own with help from home owners already connected to a natural gas pipeline. Visit Plug Power at http://www.plugpower.com/