The H-Prize program is a series of inducement prizes intended to encourage research into the use of

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

as an

energy carrier An energy carrier is a substance (fuel) or sometimes a phenomenon (energy system) that contains energy that can be later converted to other forms such as mechanical work or heat or to operate chemical or physical processes. Such carriers includ ...

in a

hydrogen economy The hydrogen economy is using hydrogen to decarbonize economic sectors which are hard to electrify, essentially, the "hard-to-abate" sectors such as cement, steel, long-haul transport etc. In order to phase out fossil fuels and limit climate ch ...

. The program is sponsored by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

and administered by the Hydrogen Education Foundation. In 2014, an H-Prize competition was launched to develop a small-scale hydrogen generation and refueling station for hydrogen

fuel cell electric vehicle A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate ele ...

s. The prize, named the H2 Refuel H-Prize and worth $1 million, was awarded in January 2017, to the consortium "SimpleFuel".

Creation

Legislation for the prize, introduced by Rep.

Bob Inglis Robert Durden Inglis Sr. (born October 11, 1959) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2005 to 2011. He is a moderate member of the Republican Par ...

, passed the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in May 2006 as , but did not receive a vote in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. After being reintroduced by Rep.

Dan Lipinski Daniel William Lipinski (born July 15, 1966) is an American politician and political scientist who served eight terms as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 3rd congressional district from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Lip ...

at the beginning of a new term in January 2007, it was eventually folded into the

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007Pub.L. 110-140, originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007, is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the Democratic Party's 100-Hour Plan during the ...

, which passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate and was then signed into law in December 2007. The bill

authorized Authorization or authorisation (see spelling differences) is the function of specifying access rights/privileges to resources, which is related to general information security and computer security, and to access control in particular. More for ...

$50 million in prize money, for the period from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2017. However, in order to be spent, these funds must also be included in Congress's annual

appropriation bill An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

s. The law provides for three categories of prizes: *Four prizes of up to $1 million, awarded every two years for advances in hydrogen production, storage, distribution and utilization; *One prize of up to $4 million, awarded two years to working prototypes of hydrogen vehicles which meet ambitious performance goals; and *A $10 million grand prize, awarded only once during the program for a major technological breakthrough. In October 2008, the Hydrogen Education Foundation of Washington, D.C. was selected to administer the H-Prize along with SCRA, a South Carolina research foundation.

Prizes

In August 2009, the

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency an ...

(EERE) of the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $1 million prize for innovative

hydrogen storage Hydrogen storage can be accomplished by several existing methods of holding hydrogen for later use. These include mechanical approaches such as using high pressures and low temperatures, or employing chemical compounds that release H2 upon demand ...

materials which would be awarded in February 2011. However, the prize was never awarded as no competitor met the competition requirements. In March 2014, EERE announced plans for a $1 million H2 Refuel H-Prize, and the Prize competition was launched in October 2014. The competition focused on developing small hydrogen refueling stations that can generate hydrogen from electricity or natural gas and dispense it to vehicles at least 1 kg at a time. The winner, SimpleFuel, was announced in January 2017, after building a prototype system and successfully completing the testing period. SimpleFuel was a consortium of three companies, PDC Machines, Ivys, Inc, and McPhy Energy North America.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official H-Prize Website

Hydrogen Education Foundation: Administrator

SCRA: H-Prize Administrator Partner
United States federal energy legislation Invention awards Sustainable technologies Hydrogen economy

Creation

Prizes

See also

References

External links