The US Fuel Cell Council (USFCC) applauded today's decision of the United Nations (UN) Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods to allow the transport on cargo aircraft of methanol cartridges for fuel cells.

The new UN model regulation must still be formally approved next week; it will be forwarded to international agencies and member nations for enactment.

"With its decision, the UN Committee will remove a significant hurdle on the path to worldwide market introduction of methanol fuel cells for consumer electronics," said USFCC Executive Director Robert Rose. "Our industry is poised to move rapidly to bring advanced products that meet both global safety standards and the needs of consumers."

The Sub-Committee approved a proposal advanced by the U.S. Department of Transportation to treat fuel cell cartridges as Class 3 liquids under UN Model Regulation. USFCC actively supported the U.S. position, led by the Council's Portable Power Working Group.

Fact sheets, background information and technology examples, along with a list of industry and technical contacts, may be found at http://www.usfcc.com/usfcc/methanol/index.html.

The USFCC is the industry association for the fuel cell industry. For more information on USFCC, visit our web site at www.usfcc.com.