Originally published November 29 2005
Executive claims micro-power fuel cells will open up fuel cell market
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Jim Balcom, president and CEO of PolyFuel, made remarks to an industry group in London about the potential of micro-power fuel cells to open up the market to all fuel cell applications and technologies.
Micro-power fuel cells, intended to power portable electronic devices such as cell phones, PDAs and laptop computers, will be the key technical and economic driver for the entire fuel cell market -- including stationary and automotive applications -- said Jim Balcom, president and CEO of PolyFuel.
"Those companies that wait it out, or focus their energies on the more technologically challenging but less immediate segments, such as stationary power or automotive applications, will literally miss the boat, even in their own segments."
Cost and performance of the technology are in line, volume distribution channels are already in place, and a huge, pent-up market demand is developing.
"According to recent published studies, portable device power demand is increasing three times faster than the rate of battery improvement," stated Balcom.
Balcom believes that the same powerful processes that have given us 50-million transistor computer chips, 300-gigabyte hard disk drives, and US$25 color television cameras -- to name a few -- will be at work in the portable fuel cell industry in the coming years.
Balcom's PolyFuel, which is well known in the industry for its breakthroughs in portable fuel cell membrane technology, has literally experienced the learning curve and technology fallout phenomena first hand.
There was a clear path from 'A' to 'B.'" The membrane is the crucial "heart" of a fuel cell that enables it to convert fuel into electricity.
In terms of durability, current fuel cell lifetimes of 3,000 to 8,000 hours exceed the 2,000-hour needs for portable devices, but remains challenging for automotive (5,000 hours for cars to 20,000 for buses and trucks), and a non-starter for stationary applications (40,000 hours to 80,000 hours.) By contrast the infrastructure for stationary is simple -- the existing natural gas distribution grid, as is that for portable -- the existing consumer distribution channels for batteries and lighters.
Automotive, however, with the need for compressed hydrogen gas distribution, filling stations and storage depots, remains profoundly challenging.
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