Ballard Power keeps on truckin’: produces one millionth fuel-cell component
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010Just figured I’d recognize a milestone for Vancouver-based Ballard Power, which recently manufactured its one-millionth membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which is a core component in its proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Ballard says the high volumes have led to cost reductions that give it an edge over competitors. Still, it’s important to note that each MEA that’s manufactured leads to production of one fuel cell that can only power a light bulb. These fuel cells, however, are stacked together to form larger fuel-cell systems — from kilowatts to megawatts in size.
Anyway, the hydrogen economy may not be here as predicted 10 or 15 years ago, but Ballard is slowly proving there is a role for fuel cells and that costs, with volume, are coming down.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business 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 clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
