Interstate Orange

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developer and marketer of lithium batteries and fuel cells, has received an award of $550,000 from the Florida Hydrogen Initiative to deploy a renewable energy source that will power facilities at a rest area on a

interstate highway.

The Florida Hydrogen Initiative is a non-profit organisation that links environmental organizations, state universities, state government and the space program to promote hydrogen technology in Florida.

Erer1 will use its 10 Kilowatt (KW) fuel-cell based energy source to power the facility. The fuel cell itself uses methanol created from food waste from theme parks and orange peels from citrus processing. The project, known as the HyTech Rest Area, is to be completed in 18 months.

Last month, Ener1’s subsidiary EnerDel, said that it had established and equipped a pilot nanotechnology-based manufacturing facility to fabricate electrodes for high discharge rate, lithium-ion batteries.

EnerDel, in which Delphi Corporation holds a 19.5% interest, is in discussions with automotive OEMs regarding evaluation of samples for use in hybrid electric vehicles where the high discharge rate characteristic is viewed as key.

Earlier in the year, Ener1 announced its intent to acquire Giner Electrochemical Systems, LLC (GES) a privately held company located in Newton, MA that specialises in the development of fuel cell technologies and products.