Hydrogenics shares jump 7% on military contract
Mississauga-based Hydrogenics Corp. said it has signed a contract with the U.S. Army to supply a “self-contained regenerative fuel cell power system” that would provide auxiliary power for a light armoured vehicle.
The system would basically provide on-board electrolysis for producing hydrogen, which would then to stored and used when necessary to power a fuel cell. The system would work more quietly compared to an ICE engine, and it would operate at lower temperatures and with zero emissions. This is particularly important for military vehicles engaged in stealth missions that want to minimize heat trails.
Bottom line is that fuel cells are a natural for military applications, and Hydrogenics is likely to have more near-term success attracting contracts with the U.S. army and other militaries, where the technology can be proven in the field before we see industrial and eventually mass-market use in vehicles.
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca