• Developing and demonstrating zero emission and low emission transportation technologies to meet military and commercial needs;
• Establishing infrastructure to support zero emission vehicle operations;
• Creating business opportunities to attract vehicle technology companies to Hawaii;
• Facilitating the growth of a transportation technology industry in Hawaii; and
• Securing new funding sources to expand scope of operations in Hawaii.

For a complete overview of the HCATT program, visit the HCATT website at HCATT.

Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program & Investment Capital Special Fund

Passed in 2006, Act 240 established the Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) to support the increased use of Hawaii’s indigenous renewable energy resources using hydrogen as an energy carrier. Act 240 also appropriated $10 million for a hydrogen investment capital special fund for program development and investment. It is intended that the fund will be deployed to:

• Develop a world-class renewable hydrogen program in Hawaii;
• Provide cost share for projects that will attract a significant amount of federal and private research and development activity to Hawaii; and
• Provide seed capital and investment capital for emerging Hawaii-based advanced energy technologies and technology companies.

For more information and the current status of the fund, visit Business Resources.

Renewable Energy in Hawaii

The Director of DBEDT serves as Hawaii’s statewide Energy Resources Coordinator. The Strategic Industries Division supports the Energy Resources Coordinator and serves as the Hawaii State Energy Offices which maintains a website providing comprehensive information on Hawaii’s renewable energy activities.

Current hydrogen activities in the State of Hawaii include:

• Research, development, and demonstration projects conducted at the University of Hawaii Manoa;
• Hydrogen vehicle demonstration projects conducted at the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies;
• Implementation of the Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program and administration of the $10 million hydrogen investment capital special fund;
• A fleet of hydrogen shuttle buses to be located at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island;
• The planned installation of a hydrogen fueling station on the Big Island, the first step of a potential Hawaii Hydrogen Highway.

University of Hawaii at Manoa

The University of Hawaii has an active hydrogen research and development (R&D) program centered on the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, and Department of Chemistry.

HNEI – Hawaii Natural Energy Institute

HNEI conducts hydrogen related research in three major areas:

• Research, development, and testing of PEM fuel cells at the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility. Work includes testing fuel cells, testing complete fuel cell systems, fuel cell fabrication, and alternative approaches to fuel cell development. HNEI>Fuel Cells
• Hydrogen production utilizing Hawaii’s renewable energy sources. Work in this area includes direct solar to hydrogen production utilizing HNEI’s patented photoelectrochemical process, biological hydrogen production utilizing micro-algae and photosynthetic bacteria, and hydrogen from biomass utilizing gasification and reforming technologies. HNEI>Hydrogen
• Hawaii Hydrogen Power Park. Comprises large scale hydrogen and distributed energy demonstration projects which include installing hydrogen production and fueling station infrastructure in support of transportation projects such as the Hawaii hydrogen highway and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park shuttle bus project. HNEI>Hawaii Hydrogen Power Park
• Kahua Ranch Hydrogen Test Site. Kahua Ranch located on the Big Island has excellent wind and solar resources and is being used to test wind-to-hydrogen and solar-to-hydrogen hydrogen production systems. The system can be monitored and controlled over the internet and HNEI is investigating the feasibility of using the system as an educational resource.

UH Department of Chemistry Hydrogen Storage Program

While much of the early research on high-density hydrogen storage systems was conducted under the auspices of HNEI, in 2000 this component was placed under the direction of the University of Hawaii’s Department of Chemistry. The latest information on this research can be found at UH Department of Chemistry – H2 Storage

HCATT - Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technology

Did you know that Hawaii is a center of excellence for developing fuel cell buses and vans; that there is a growing fleet of fuel cell vehicles at Hickam Air Force Base; and that “Air Force 1”, the first Air Force bus to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, was built here in Hawaii? Yes, the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technology, otherwise known as HCATT (H-CAT), is Hawaii’s very own fuel cell vehicle fabricator. Their shop is located in downtown Honolulu on Cooke Street. HCATT has been here in one form or another for over 10 years and has many new exciting projects either starting up or on the near horizon. They have a great website which will give you all the details including pictures and diagrams of the vehicles that they produced for the Air Force. Visit them at http://www.htdc.org/hcatt/.