VIASPACE CEO Reports Progress on Commercialization of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Within the $55 Billion Clean Energy Sector
PASADENA, Calif., /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC) CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, reports that Sony unveiled its previously secret direct methanol fuel cell at the recent Small Fuel Cells 2008 conference in Atlanta. In addition, Samsung publicly acknowledged its cartridge partnership with VIASPACE subsidiary Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation (DMFCC) at the conference. IDG News Service reported on May 9, 2008 that, "Toshiba plans to begin mass production of
direct methanol fuel cells by March next year." These announcements demonstrate the progress in commercialization of direct methanol fuel cells within the $55 Billion Clean Energy Sector.
VIASPACE and DMFCC manufacture disposable fuel cartridges for portable electronics applications, and fuel cell and battery test equipment. VIASPACE also sells high-quality and safe rechargeable lithium-based batteries.
About 300 global technology leaders attended the three-day 10th annual Small Fuel Cells conference which focused on small and portable fuel cells and fuel cells hybridized with rechargeable batteries for commercial and military applications. Attendees included representatives from large companies such as Samsung, Sony, DuPont, Energizer, Motorola, Honeywell, Toshiba, 3M, as well as many smaller companies and universities. Many technologies were discussed, but the largest number of talks were on direct methanol fuel cells including presentations by Sony, Samsung, DMFCC, Smart Fuel Cell, PolyFuel and Cabot.
Dr. Kukkonen comments on the conference, "In the session where I gave a talk, Sony revealed that they had been working in secret for several years on direct methanol fuel cells. They showed impressive data and said that their commercial target was Sony hand-held portable electronics such as mobile phones, digital cameras, game consoles and Walkmans. Sony revealed itself as a player for the first time and captured a lot of attention. They emphasized that their solution was a fuel cell hybridized with a small battery for optimum performance. DMFCC fully agrees with this approach, and VIASPACE has the batteries needed for hybridization."
"Samsung followed Sony on the program and reported on the results of their extensive testing of direct methanol fuel cells and stacks under a wide range of environmental and user conditions. The Samsung presentation showed that they are at the later stages of development toward commercialization, gathering data and statistics on performance, stability and reliability."
Kukkonen continued, "We were gratified that Samsung acknowledged its partnership with DMFCC on fuel cartridges. DMFCC and its Japanese partner, Sato Group, provided the cartridges to Samsung for their system testing. My talk was on creating the global infrastructure for cartridge manufacturing and distribution. I was pleased to be able to announce the April 30, 2008 ruling by the US Department of Transportation allowing airline passengers and crew to hand carry on methanol fuel cells and cartridges. This is an important breakthrough for the industry."
On May 9, 2008 IDG News Service reported Toshiba's aggressive midterm management plan to dramatically increase corporate profits. According to IDG, "Thursday's announcement represents Toshiba's strongest commitment yet to getting DMFCs out of the door. Toshiba has set aside a portion of its capital expenditure to build a DMFC production line and products are now expected in their current fiscal year, which is the period that ends in March 2009."
About VIASPACE: Originally founded in 1998 with the objective of transforming proven space and defense technologies from NASA and the Department of Defense into hardware and software solutions that solve today's complex problems, VIASPACE benefits from important patent and software licenses from Caltech, which manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, please visit our website at
http://www.VIASPACE.com, or contact for Investor Relations, Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications at 800-517-8050, or IR@VIASPACE.com.
direct methanol fuel cells by March next year." These announcements demonstrate the progress in commercialization of direct methanol fuel cells within the $55 Billion Clean Energy Sector.
VIASPACE and DMFCC manufacture disposable fuel cartridges for portable electronics applications, and fuel cell and battery test equipment. VIASPACE also sells high-quality and safe rechargeable lithium-based batteries.
About 300 global technology leaders attended the three-day 10th annual Small Fuel Cells conference which focused on small and portable fuel cells and fuel cells hybridized with rechargeable batteries for commercial and military applications. Attendees included representatives from large companies such as Samsung, Sony, DuPont, Energizer, Motorola, Honeywell, Toshiba, 3M, as well as many smaller companies and universities. Many technologies were discussed, but the largest number of talks were on direct methanol fuel cells including presentations by Sony, Samsung, DMFCC, Smart Fuel Cell, PolyFuel and Cabot.
Dr. Kukkonen comments on the conference, "In the session where I gave a talk, Sony revealed that they had been working in secret for several years on direct methanol fuel cells. They showed impressive data and said that their commercial target was Sony hand-held portable electronics such as mobile phones, digital cameras, game consoles and Walkmans. Sony revealed itself as a player for the first time and captured a lot of attention. They emphasized that their solution was a fuel cell hybridized with a small battery for optimum performance. DMFCC fully agrees with this approach, and VIASPACE has the batteries needed for hybridization."
"Samsung followed Sony on the program and reported on the results of their extensive testing of direct methanol fuel cells and stacks under a wide range of environmental and user conditions. The Samsung presentation showed that they are at the later stages of development toward commercialization, gathering data and statistics on performance, stability and reliability."
Kukkonen continued, "We were gratified that Samsung acknowledged its partnership with DMFCC on fuel cartridges. DMFCC and its Japanese partner, Sato Group, provided the cartridges to Samsung for their system testing. My talk was on creating the global infrastructure for cartridge manufacturing and distribution. I was pleased to be able to announce the April 30, 2008 ruling by the US Department of Transportation allowing airline passengers and crew to hand carry on methanol fuel cells and cartridges. This is an important breakthrough for the industry."
On May 9, 2008 IDG News Service reported Toshiba's aggressive midterm management plan to dramatically increase corporate profits. According to IDG, "Thursday's announcement represents Toshiba's strongest commitment yet to getting DMFCs out of the door. Toshiba has set aside a portion of its capital expenditure to build a DMFC production line and products are now expected in their current fiscal year, which is the period that ends in March 2009."
About VIASPACE: Originally founded in 1998 with the objective of transforming proven space and defense technologies from NASA and the Department of Defense into hardware and software solutions that solve today's complex problems, VIASPACE benefits from important patent and software licenses from Caltech, which manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, please visit our website at
http://www.VIASPACE.com, or contact for Investor Relations, Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications at 800-517-8050, or IR@VIASPACE.com.
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