WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Fuel Cell Technologies Program will host a webinar with the Clean Energy States Alliance and the Technology Transition Corp. titled “Fuel Cells for Supermarkets” on Monday, April 4, from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time. The webinar will focus on the use of fuel cells by supermarkets and will detail the experiences that supermarkets in four different states have had with stationary fuel cells. According to UTC Power, a 400 kW fuel cell at Price Chopper in Albany, N.Y., meets 85 percent of the supermarket’s energy needs, reduces the building’s carbon footprint by 71 tons, provides reliable energy for perishable items, and saves more than 4 million gallons of water each year.

The webinar will also explore the reasons why supermarkets are an especially attractive venue for fuel cells. According to DOE, using fuel cells as a combined heat and power application allows supermarkets to not only power lighting, refrigeration cases, freezers, and air conditioners, but also allows operators to use the thermal energy for cooling, space heating, snow and ice melting, and desiccant dehumidification. Having a reliable supply of electric power is critical to supermarkets because their refrigerated inventory needs constant cooling, and downtime due to power outages affects sales revenue.

Featured speakers will include:

• Frank Blake, electrical specialist, Price Chopper

• Scott Larsen, project manager for industrial research and development, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

• Kathy Loftus, global leader for sustainable engineering, maintenance, and energy management, Whole Foods Market

• Benny D. Smith, vice president of facilities, Golub Corp.

There will be time after the presentations for Q&A.

To register for the webinar, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/194055761.

Publication date: 03/28/2011