Loughborough, UK
On the 15th June, 2009, Dr Henri Winand, CEO of Intelligent Energy submitted Outside Witness Testimony to the Energy & Water Development Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.
On the 8th of July it was confirmed that Senator Byron Dorgan the Chairman of the Subcommittee had marked a total of $190 million for the hydrogen and fuel cell program office from the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2010 financial year budget, largely restoring funding to financial year 2009 levels
In his testimony, Dr Winand spoke of the growing demand for energy worldwide being one of the key indicators of economic recovery, of the wide ranging role for hydrogen and fuel cells in the future energy landscape and that the efforts of those in the energy and transportation sectors will be central to sustainable growth in the future.
Senator Dorgan’s funding initiatives were fully supported by the Intelligent Energy CEO in his testimony, as Dr Winand explained; “Hydrogen fuel cells represent a versatile, clean and efficient power source with enormous potential for applications across a wide range of industries – from automobiles, to portable electronics and in powering and heating our homes.”
He also emphasised the high levels of power distribution inefficiencies that exist in today’s centralised grid structure and stressed the efficiency of fuel cell systems in producing both heat and power in a controllable manner and in a way that is suited to the heat and electricity demands of modern housing and commercial buildings.
The refunding of the hydrogen and fuel cell program forms part of a larger appropriations bill intended to boost funding for hydrogen, environmental clean-up and fossil fuel programs. A final determination of the bill is expected in September 2009.
Full Outside Witness Testmony from Intelligent Energy to the US Senate
