Shell joins 'California Fuel Cell Partnership'

Shell announced that companies of Shell have joined the "California Fuel Cell Partnership" -- a unique collaboration between the state of California, energy companies and automobile manufacturers which will test fuel cell-powered vehicles under real, day to day driving conditions. Fuel cell vehicles run on hydrogen which the fuel cell converts into electricity. The vehicles can provide at least the same performance as traditional internal combustion engines but with a vast reduction in harmful emissions and with almost no noise.

The partnership will place about 50 fuel cell vehicles on California roads between 2000 and 2003. As well as testing fuel-cell vehicles, the partnership will address fuel infrastructure issues and will evaluate technology for using gasoline as a source of hydrogen to power the vehicles.
Shell believes it can make a major contribution through the use of its proprietary Catalytic Partial Oxidisation (CPO) technology which has already been shown to be able to convert liquid fuels into a hydrogen rich gas.
Shell has previously signalled its intent to become a leader in hydrogen and renewable energy. It has created a new business, Shell Hydrogen, to take advantage of the exciting opportunities that are developing in the technology, infrastructure and applications surrounding the commercialisation of fuel cells.
Shell International Oil Products BV concluded an agreement last August with DBB Fuel Cell Engines GmbH, a subsidiary of DaimlerBenz which involves research co-operation on fuel cell cars. DBB's other main shareholders are Ballard Power Systems in Canada and Ford Motor Company in the USA.

In February this year Shell joined an Icelandic consortium which is investigating the potential for eventually replacing the use of fossil fuels in Iceland with hydrogen and creating the world's first "hydrogen economy". Shell has also committed to an investment of $ 500 mm in its renewable energy businesses over five years.

This most recent collaboration reflects Shell's continuing commitment to contribute to sustainable mobility. Shell companies are already the world's leading marketers of unleaded and low-lead petrol and are consistently in the forefront of offering motorists cleaner fuel choices such as LPG, and, since last year, the Pura range of petrol and diesel.