[sustran] Ballard fuel cell technology

[Craig Townsend]

Ballard fuel cell to hit California streets
Two-year pilot test for pollution-free technology
Saturday, April 17, 1999
PETER KENNEDY and GREG KEENAN
The Globe and Mail


Vancouver and Toronto -- PETER KENNEDY 
in Vancouver 
GREG KEENAN 
in Toronto

Ballard Power Systems Inc. will announce next week that cars and 
buses powered by its pollution-free fuel cell technology will soon be 
on the road in California as part of a plan to cut poisonous air 
emissions there.

Automotive sources in the United States confirm that California plans 
to launch a two-year pilot test of Ballard's fuel cell technology 
that will initially involve 10 cars and five buses.

By the year 2003, the consortium -- which also includes Royal 
Dutch/Shell Group and Atlantic Richfield Co. -- plans to expand its 
tests to include at least 40 fuel cell cars and 40 buses.

Ballard officials have refused to confirm that the fuel cell maker is 
gearing up to test the technology in a joint venture with partners 
Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG and the California government.

Ballard spokeswoman Debbie Roman said the company isn't prepared to 
comment on the joint venture until details are announced Tuesday by 
California Governor Gray Davis.

Ballard, the auto makers, California and at least two oil industry 
giants plan a splashy news conference on the steps of the Capitol 
building in Sacramento to announce the deal.

"This is a demonstration program that the state will be handling," 
said a spokesman for one of the U.S. auto giants involved in the 
joint venture.

The amount of money involved is not clear, but the deal appears to 
represent an endorsement by California of Ballard's fuel cells and 
begins a real-world test of technology that the company hopes will 
challenge the internal combustion engine during the next decade.

The announcement will come about a year after Ballard agreed to 
collaborate with Ford and DaimlerChrysler to develop pollution-free 
fuel cells. DaimlerChrysler owns 20 per cent of Ballard, while Ford 
holds 15 per cent.

While Ballard and its partners are still years away from commercial 
production, California is anxious to test the technology in a bid to 
try to resolve the state's massive air pollution problem. The main 
pollutants are hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide spewed out by internal 
combustion engines.

Under its stringent air regulations, California has decreed that zero 
emission vehicles (ZEV) must represent 10 per cent of a company's 
total vehicle sales in the state by 2003. It is also moving to force 
makers of sport utility vehicles and even watercraft to reduce 
emissions over the next several years.

Although not all the details are available, it appears the California 
tests will be a larger form of pilot tests -- involving six buses -- 
that are currently being performed by transit authorities in 
Vancouver and Chicago.

The Chicago Transit Authority is in the second year of a $9.6-million 
(U.S.) pilot program designed to expose city buses powered by 
hydrogen fuel cell engines to that city's extreme weather conditions.

Noelle Gaffney, a spokeswoman for the CTA, said the tests are going 
well, but no commitment has been made to put more buses on the road.

A major stumbling block appears to be the cost of the buses, which 
are manufactured by Winnipeg-based New Flyer Industries Ltd. At a 
price tag of $1.4-million, the fuel cell buses are three times more 
expensive than buses powered by traditional internal combustion 
engines.

The CTA had to spend about a $1-million to build a refuelling station 
needed to provide the buses with compressed hydrogen gas.

However, U.S. petroleum giants will be keeping a close watch on how 
the fuel cell system performs in California. "Eventually, we can see 
the gasoline-burning combustion engine exiting and we have to be 
prepared for that," said Paul Langland, a spokesman for Atlantic 
Richfield in Los Angeles.

"There are all sorts of new technologies out there," he said. "We 
have to be ready to see how we can work with governments and the auto 
industry to make sure that we are still in the equation somewhere."

If the fuel cells run on hydrogen, Mr. Langland said there are 
technologies available to produce that sort of fuel through petroleum-
based products.

A key question is how the companies plan to produce the hydrogen 
needed to generate the electric power that will propel the car, said 
Charles Ward, a University of Toronto professor who has worked with 
Toyota Motor Corp. on producing a fuel system for that auto maker's 
fuel cell program. Fuel cells create electric power by combining 
hydrogen and oxygen.

Auto industry sources said they think the vehicles will be fuelled 
with methanol that will be reformulated into hydrogen in the engine, 
rather than hydrogen itself.

If the vehicles are using methanol, they will emit carbon dioxide 
that does not produce smog, Prof. Ward said, but at least the 
creation of a methanol fuel infrastructure is less costly than 
establishing a network of hydrogen stations around North America.

Observers have estimated that existing tanks in gasoline stations can 
be converted to hold methanol for less than $500-million, compared 
with an estimated cost in the low billions of dollars to create a 
hydrogen fuel infrastructure.

"It's not the final solution, but it's a step," Prof. Ward said.

Ballard's volatile share price, which analysts say tends to rise and 
fall in anticipation of news, gained 95 cents to $48.70 on the 
Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday. Auto industry analysts played down 
the significance of the announcement.

"It's a long road before we see fuel cells make a meaningful impact 
on the core of the retail automotive business," said Gary Lapidus, 
who follows the auto industry for Wall Street brokerage firm Sanford 
C. Bernstein & Co. Inc.

Mr. Lapidus doesn't expect to see large numbers of fuel-cell-powered 
vehicles in commercial fleets until the middle of the next decade and 
in retail sales about 10 years after that.

BALLARD'S PATH
1979: Company founded as Ballard Research Inc. by Dr. Geoffrey 
Ballard. 

1993: Ballard operates world's first fuel-cell-powered bus. 

June, 1996: Chicago Transit Authority agrees to buy three Ballard 
buses for fleet trials. 

July, 1996: Ballard announces B.C. agreement to buy three buses 
fortrials in Vancouver. 

August, 1997: Ballard starts prototype natural-gas-fuelled power 
plant to supply electricity to B.C. Hydro. 

August, 1997: Daimler-Benz acquires 25-per-cent interest in Ballard. 

October, 1997: Federal government grant to Ballard to help develop 
fuel cells. 

December, 1997: Forms alliance with GEC Alsthom PLC to develop fuel 
cell technology for stationary power applications. 

1998: Ballard buses begin fleet trials in Chicago. 

April, 1998: Ballard, Daimler-Benz AG and Ford Motor Co. form 
strategic alliance to develop and market fuel cell technology for 
transportation uses, Ford buys 15-per-cent stake, Daimler-Benz cuts 
stake to 20 per cent.
*************************************************
Craig Townsend
Institute for Science & Technology Policy
Murdoch University
South Street, Murdoch
Perth, Western Australia 6150

tel: (66 8) 9360-6293
fax: (66 8) 9360-6421
email: townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au

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