Cleveland based Myers Motors is helping move The Plus region into the forefront of electric, hybrid car innovation with its NmG electric vehicle. The NmG is a compact car that runs solely on electricity, eliminating the need for gas.

Designed for short distances, the NmG comes with some special features and benefits including:
•    Reduced or eliminated global warming impact
•    Three-wheeled vehicle design which registers, insures and parks as a motorcycle
•    Drives 1,000 miles on $20 worth of electric fuel
•    Onboard battery charger 110 Volt
•    Easily charges in the comfort of your own garage

Plus this Northeast Ohio vehicle qualifies for an up to $2,500 tax credit until December 31, 2001. Learn more about how Myers Motors is helping to develop The Plus region in hybrid and electric car technology and products through hiVelocity’s article, Ohio moves toward fast lane in electric, hybrid car development.

Let’s face it: America is a bit behind in use of renewable and advanced energies. The race is on to get up to speed, with every state vying to be the economic “home” of new technologies - and new jobs - that are going to power our country.
 
Which state will be the first to successfully breed off-shore wind farms?
Which state will become the home of solar panel production?
Which state will lead development of fuel cells and storage?
 
Believe it or not, Ohio is ahead of the game. With hundreds of manufacturers who specialize in metal fabrication, plastics, chemicals and coatings, many of the skills and materials needed to create new energy applications are right here. In fact, hundreds of Northeast Ohio companies are already serving the market. Timken’s bearings and Sherwin Williams’ coatings are part of wind turbines that are powering the globe and Rolls Royce operates their Fuel Cell Headquarters in Canton. The Plus is moving the industry forward.
 
To build and promote this cluster, Northeast Ohio’s high-tech champion, NorTech, launched NorTech EnergyEnterprise. Team NEO is partnering with NorTech EnergyEnterprise to develop our regional strategy to attract additional advanced energy companies to the region, while they work with universities, the state of Ohio and other regional economic development organizations to make the Plus region the nation’s home for this industry.
 
To learn more, check out this new website, http://www.nortechenergy.org/.

In case you missed it, the Akron Beacon Journal is doing a great, week long series on the wind energy industry in Ohio.  Here are some great tidbits from the article:

…its (Ohio’s) companies are in a great position to supply components that can generate electricity, investments, jobs and excitement. Around the world, wind is a booming, $40 billion-a-year industry that is growing at 30 percent a year, energy expert Richard Stuebi of the Cleveland Foundation said.”It’s the biggest, fastest-growing industry on the planet . . . and everyone wants to be part of it,” he said. 

Ohio trails only California in potential for developing wind turbines and components, according to the Renewable Energy Policy Project in a 2004 report for the U.S. Department of Energy.

That report said wind could create 11,688 jobs and add $3.9 billion in capital investments to Ohio’s economy.

Ohio might have surpassed California since then, as wind development has moved into the Midwest and away from California, said Ed Weston, director of WIRE-Net/the Great Lakes Wind Network, a Cleveland-based group of wind-power suppliers.

Ohio actively is organizing and promoting its wind-power supply chain, which includes 170 companies that make bearings, fasteners, control systems, composites, gear boxes, brakes, generators, metal coatings, gears, hydraulics, sensors and electronics needed to manufacture the 8,000 components found in a typical utility-size wind turbine.

When assembled, turbines cost about $2 million each.

Ohio suppliers range from alloy steel and bearing maker Timken Co. in Canton to ring-bearing maker Rotek Inc. in Aurora and Cardinal Fasteners in Cleveland.

Timken is a big player with its production of special-alloy steel that is engineered and produced in Canton, along with bearing systems and components for power transmission. The product list includes seals, lubricants and monitors.

Demand for the company’s specialized and proprietary steel is high and ”absolutely solid,” she said.

In addition, Timken recently signed an agreement that will allow Timken to make its steel in Daido Steel mills in Japan to better serve Asian markets, she said.

Wind products are a small percentage of the company’s overall revenue, but wind energy has been identified as ”the company’s most promising market,” she said.

For that reason, the company has invested more than $200 million in the past three to five years to expand in this market. It was the one sector in which Timken continued to invest through the recession, she said.

Investments have included plant expansions in South Carolina, China and Romania, and new facilities in India and China.

Timken’s wind business has grown as turbines have grown in size, especially the offshore turbines, and the reliability problems increased with that additional size, Crum said. ”That has hit Timken’s sweet spot,” she said. ”We’re becoming a major player now with the trend to bigger turbines.”

She cited offshore turbines in Scotland’s Orkney Islands that feature harsh surroundings. ”It was an extreme environment that required extreme engineering,” she said.

Turbine design has changed greatly in recent years — with turbines getting bigger and more efficient, said Tom Maves of the Ohio Wind Working Group, a state entity formed by the Ohio Department of Development.

A great position
Those bigger turbines with bigger components boost Ohio’s position as king of the wind-power supply chain, he said. That’s because of increased shipping costs for bigger parts.

”Ohio’s in a great position in the middle of the country, and that’s creating a good opportunity,” he said.

Last week, the Ohio Third Frontier Commission announced over $19 million in grant awards through the Advanced Energy, Fuel Cell and Photovoltaic programs. A total of 11 Northeast Ohio companies received Ohio Third Frontier grants to further their research, development and commercialization activities in the advanced energy. This is great news for the Northeast Ohio region and will lead to continued growth and development of our technology economy.  To view the full press release announcements, go to http://development.ohio.gov/PressRoom.htm.

ENERGY STORAGE

R. W. Beckett Corporation, (Lorain County), in collaboration with Energy Technologies, Inc., was awarded $1 million to investigate implementing lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology into a variety of distributed power storage appliances for utility and military markets, with applications for the civilian off-grid storage market.

Novolyte Technologies, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $1.12 million to develop novel electrolytes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries that will significantly improve performance and safety, and accelerate product commercialization.

GrafTech International Holdings, Inc.,  (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Mobius Power, Nexergy, and the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University, was awarded $965,000 to develop and commercialize a portfolio of expanded natural graphite thermal management products to improve performance, durability and safety of lithium ion batteries.

WIND ENERGY

Avtron Industrial Automation, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with MAGNET, Morgenthaler Partners, and The University of Akron, was awarded $1 million to develop and commercialize a superior Absolute Magnetic Encoder for use in wind turbine applications. 
WASTE TO ENERGY

quasar energy group, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with McCabe Engineering, Rockwell Automation, Seaman Corporation, Seepex and The Ohio State University, was awarded $2 million to scale-up and optimize a commercial demonstration facility that can process over 30,000 wet tons of biomass annually with more than 750 kW of electrical generation capacity. 

FUEL CELLS

Energy Technologies, Inc., (Richland County), in collaboration with Energy Conversion Devices, was awarded $1 million to develop and verify testing process and verification tools  to demonstrate the manufacturing repeatability of metal hydride fuel cell systems and their key subcomponents.

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc., (Stark County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $999,770 to determine the long-term reliability of the Rolls-Royce solid oxide fuel cell. A method to predict performance will be developed so that qualification of the solid oxide fuel cell can be accelerated, and  reduce the time for entry into commercial stationary power markets.

Wellman Products Group, a Division of Hawk Corporation, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation, was awarded $893,252 to lower the material costs of the integrated separator plates (ISPs) that will be incorporated into UTC Power’s new PureCell® 400 System, power plants by employing lower cost raw materials and processing methods.

Lockheed Martin MS2 Integrated Defense Technologies, (Summit County), in collaboration with Technology Management, Inc., was awarded $1 million to accelerate commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell based generator sets (gensets) and auxiliary power units (APUs) to the U.S. Department of Defense, which is an early adopter with a pressing need for the basic value proposition. This will result in jobs at Lockheed Martin in Akron, as well as at Technology Management, Inc. and other partners in the Ohio fuel cell supply chain within the next five years.

PHOTOVOLTAIC

Ferro Corporation, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with the Edison Welding Institute, StratusNexus Technologies, and The Ohio State University, was awarded $1 million to engineer a vitreous frit system to reliably hermetically seal second and third generation thin film solar cells for the desired service life of the solar module. 

Five Star Technologies, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with the Photovoltaic Innovation Center at the University of Toledo, was awarded $1 million to commercialize revolutionary inks that have been successfully demonstrated at test labs and alpha customers. The advanced inks enable a new generation of solar cells and can be incorporated immediately into existing cell fabrication lines.

To learn more about how the Ohio Third Frontier is growing the state’s technology economy and creating good jobs for Ohio residents, visit www.thirdfrontier.com.

In 2002, Ohio launched Third Frontier, a 10 year, $1.6 billion commitment to support technology-based economic development.  This program has had a tremendous impact on Northeast Ohio.   The essence of this program is that it creates an incentive for a knowledge-based / technology-based industry to flourish in Ohio (rather than only one company, many companies within an industry can benefit.)

Ohio’s Third Frontier Project is a $1.6 billion commitment to expand research capabilities, company formation, new product development, and advanced manufacturing technologies in Ohio’s high-tech industries through public-private collaboration. 

The Third Frontier promotes economic growth by expanding the availability of investment capital needed to form new companies, supporting product innovation in established companies, facilitating commercialization of new products, funding collaborative projects between private companies and Ohio colleges and universities. 

A few of the many notable Third Frontier awards in the Cleveland Plus region include:

• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research and Commercialization Program:  $8 million grant to Kent Displays, Inc. for the manufacturing of flexible liquid crystals film
• Fuel Cells Initiative:  $2 million grant to Rolls-Royce Fuel Systems for establishing an Ohio-based manufacturing and supply chain, a one-megawatt solid oxide system and high pressure stack block test system for power module
• Wright Mega Centers of Innovation :  $60 million grant to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for the formation of the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center
• Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program :  $2 million grant to Parker Hannifin for wind turbine drive train and brake commercialization
• Biomedical Research and Commercialization Program :  $3 million grant to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to develop small molecules that can enhance repair of the brain to delay and reverse multiple sclerosis;  $3.9 million grant to Case Western Reserve University for therapeutic nanoparticles and molecular imaging
• Ohio Research Scholars Program:  $15 million grant to Kent State University for research cluster on surfaces in advanced materials

Take a look at this independent study that assessed the benefit of this program to the State of Ohio

Rolls-Royce announced on Monday that it will expand its fuel cell research division in North Canton, a move that public officials said will create 60 jobs and retain 32.   “This type of high-tech investment is exactly what we need to create and expand business opportunities for Ohio companies and position our state as a leader in innovation and technology,” said Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

The expansion of the Rolls-Royce labs at the Stark State College of Technology campus will add a few more engineering jobs, from about 30 currently to about 40 or 50.  The real growth in jobs would be in 2012 when Rolls-Royce completes its design of the utility-scale fuel cells — and if it agrees to build assembly plants in Ohio.

The company said it will invest $3 million in processing and testing equipment, consolidating its research and development activities in North Canton. The chief executive of its U.S. fuel cell division, Mark Fleiner, said Ohio’s commitment to support a fuel cell industry and a strong partnership with Stark State College factored into its expansion decision. Rolls envisions global production of very large fuel cells — generating hundreds of thousands or millions of watts. The megawatt-sized units would be ideal for electric utilities looking to augment their giant, coal-fired power plants or nuclear plants by distributing the fuel cells on local, neighborhood distribution systems.

The news was announced at Stark State College of Technology, where Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems established its North American headquarters in 2006. The state has targeted fuel cells for development because Ohio has the technological expertise and work force to build them — everything from the fuel cell itself to myriad pumps and compressors and accompanying electronics in a complete fuel cell system.