SOCIAL TOPICS (Archive): CUTTING EDGE COMPANIES 

Published, Fall 2002

In order to power economic growth - and more sport utility vehicles - the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects that U.S. energy consumption will increase 1.5 percent per year over the next decade. This is despite legislated reductions in energy use by appliances and electric motors. With this increased demand, and ongoing concerns regarding global energy supplies, energy conservation and alternative energy sources merit attention.

DOE expects solar and wind energy to have the fastest growth among alternative energies serving electricity markets. However, many consider fuel cells a possible replacement for the internal combustion engine. Fuel cells generate electricity electrochemically, that is, without combustion. They use hydrogen or natural gas as a fuel source, and are more efficient than internal combustion engines, thus using less energy. Moreover, fuel cells emit less air pollution, a significant boost to air quality.

Currently, fuel cells can only compete cost-effectively for use in emergency back-up and uninterrupted power supply applications. General Motors (GM) anticipates that commercialization in autos may happen by 2010, assuming improvements in technology, infrastructure, and economies of scale. Hydrogenics Corporation, a member of GM’s alliance of fuel cell commercialization companies, aims to facilitate commercialization by the world’s fuel cell makers. Hydrogenics is a market leader in the design and manufacture of automated test stations for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.

While PEM fuel cells are less efficient than other fuel cell technologies, they operate at lower temperatures, thus allowing for quicker start-up and use in a range of auto and residential applications. Hydrogenics’ test stations simulate and monitor the effect on fuel cell performance of different operating parameters, such as temperature and contaminants. GM and other auto and fuel cell makers around the world use this data to improve the design and manufacture of fuel cell systems.

Using the R&D knowledge gained in developing its test stations, Hydrogenics is also developing PEM fuel cell systems. In September 2002, Hydrogenics completed a two-month trial of its 25-kilowatt back-up fuel cell power generator at a Nextel Communications cellular tower site in California. The system operates for up to two hours through a power outage. Hydrogenics aimed to show the benefits of fuel cell system over competing lead-acid battery and diesel generation systems.

Continued success by Hydrogenics and its peers has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and improve air quality. –K.Scott