Archives: Conferences

From Russia to Charlotte and back: a hydrail odyssey

November 15, 2019 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on From Russia to Charlotte and back: a hydrail odyssey | Filed in: Conferences, Fuel Cells, History, Hydrail, Hyrail.

by guest blogger Stan Thompson Everything seems to have a Ukraine connection these days. Why not hydrail (H2 fuel cell rail traction)? Per Wikipedia, in 1880, several years before Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, a Ukrainian engineer named Pyotr Pirotsky introduced the world’s first electric “tram” (European for “streetcar”) in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  Soon Pirotsky connected • Read More »

Business Gets Down to Hydrail

December 3, 2018 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on Business Gets Down to Hydrail | Filed in: Competition, Conferences, Hydrail, Hydrogen Economy, Hyrail.

by guest blogger, Stan Thompson When Dr. Holger Busche conceived wind turbine powered commuter trains for Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, back in 1998, he probably had a business model in mind, though he is a committed environmentalist. But by the time I presented the passenger hydrail concept to the US DOT in 2003, the environmental angle had become • Read More »

A Triumph In Rome: 13th International Hydrail Conference

June 17, 2018 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on A Triumph In Rome: 13th International Hydrail Conference | Filed in: Conferences, Hydrail, Infrastructure, News.

by guest blogger Stan Thompson The University of Rome II at Tor Vergata hosted the Thirteenth International Hydrail Conference the week of June 4, 2018, and it was a delightful success! Professor Stefano Cordiner and his colleagues saw that the Conference ran like a well-oiled clock (Tutto era semplicemente perfetto! Grazie!). The IHC’s have come • Read More »

Interview with Jennifer Gangi about the Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition

October 26, 2017 | By Hydro Kevin Kantola | Comments Off on Interview with Jennifer Gangi about the Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition | Filed in: Conferences.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of communicating with Jennifer Gangi (@fuelcellgirl) who is the FCS&EE spokesperson for the upcoming Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition (November 7-9, 2017 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California). As I will be attending this year, I was curious about several aspects of the upcoming Seminar • Read More »

Hydrail provenance: Thanks, James Neal !

June 21, 2017 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on Hydrail provenance: Thanks, James Neal ! | Filed in: Conferences, Fuel Cells, Hydrail, Infrastructure.

by guest blogger, Stan Thompson The Twelfth International Hydrail Conference next week (27-28 June 2017) in Graz, Austria, will be very different from the first of its kind in Charlotte NC, back in 2005. To begin with, our secondary objective now is to integrate the efforts of companies like Alstom Transport and China Railway Rolling-stock • Read More »

12th International Hydrail Conference: 27-28 June, 2017

May 17, 2017 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on 12th International Hydrail Conference: 27-28 June, 2017 | Filed in: Conferences, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Economy, Hyrail, Infrastructure, News.

Graz, Austria — 27-28 June, 2017 by guest blogger, Stan Thompson It’s been a dozen years since former Mooresville, NC, USA, Mayor Bill Thunberg, Appalachian State University Research Anaylst, Jason W. Hoyle and I first undertook to midwife hydrogen fuel cell based railway traction into being.  Our goal was mostly environmental but we also had a • Read More »

The origin of hydrail and the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

December 7, 2016 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on The origin of hydrail and the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy | Filed in: Conferences, History, Hydrail.

by guest blogger Stan Thompson Most profound thanks from the Mooresville Hydrail Initiative to the editors of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy for the cover story on the 2003 American* origin of hydrogen fuel cell passenger railways in the December, 2016, issue! We don’t know of another instance where major elements of the world’s infrastructure (diesel and catenary railway electrification) have • Read More »

Hydrail’s “Golden Spike” moment: Berlin, 2016

October 12, 2016 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on Hydrail’s “Golden Spike” moment: Berlin, 2016 | Filed in: Conferences, Fuel Cells, Hydrail, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Jobs, Hydrogen Economy, Infrastructure, Political Issues.

by guest blogger, Stan Thompson Hydrail is the term of art for electrifying railways wirelessly by storing electrical energy onboard as hydrogen and reconverting it, via fuel cells, as needed to power electric traction motors. In Berlin, Germany, around noon on September 20, 2016, hydrail had its moment in history, reminiscent of May 10, 1869, at Promontory Point, • Read More »

Hydrail Conferences: “Mission 1” Accomplished!

July 27, 2015 | By Stan Thompson | 1 Comment | Filed in: Conferences, Hydrail, Hydrogen Economy, Infrastructure.

by guest blogger Stan Thompson The Tenth International Hydrail Conference (“10-IHC”) came home to Mooresville, North Carolina, on June 22-23 and it was a resounding success for a number of reasons. Our twenty presenters were a delightful mix of pros from previous IHCs, academics, railroad professionals, VIPs and Brad Read, President of TIG/m, who built the hydrail • Read More »

Hydrail commercializing: the 2015 Mooresville conference

June 4, 2015 | By Stan Thompson | Comments Off on Hydrail commercializing: the 2015 Mooresville conference | Filed in: Conferences, Fuel Cells, Hydrail, Hydrogen Organizations, Infrastructure, News.

by guest blogger Stan Thompson For ten years now, the Appalachian State University and Mooresville NC originators of the International Hydrail Conference series have predicted, explained and advocated hydrogen railway traction. Now, like a teenager suddenly outgrowing all her clothes, hydrail is coming of age—commercially and with a vengeance! This is the theme of 10-IHC, • Read More »