http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20496/story.htm
Ballard CEO sees hydrogen cars commercial by 2013 USA: April 17, 2003 NEW YORK - Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells could be competitive with conventional combustion engine powered cars within 10 years, the CEO of fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems Inc. (BLD.TO) (BLDP.O) said. At the moment, cars powered by fuel cells are almost entirely crafted by hand and come with sky-high price tags of up to $2 million each. But Ballard President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Campbell said soon the price will drop. Ballard plans to unveil its next generation of fuel cell engines by 2008 and a more advanced engine a few years after that. "The next generation we will demonstrate what it will take to become competitive, and the generation after that we will execute what it will take to become competitive," said Campbell in an interview in New York. He said future generations of fuel cell vehicles will be simpler, have fewer parts, and use less of costly materials such as platinum. An increased volume of sales and making the switch from hand-crafting to production line manufacturing will cut costs, he said. In the next two to three years, Ballard expects to have built 180 more fuel cell engines for cars, in addition to the 50 already built, Campbell said. He said Ford Motor Co. (F.N) is expected to have bought 60 Ballard engines, DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX.N) (DCXGn.DE) should also take 60, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (7267.T) is expected to buy30, and a European Union program should buy 30 buses powered with fuel cells. Next month, Spain, the first country to receive the buses, is scheduled to unveil one of them, which would operate as a regular city bus in Madrid. Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to create energy, emitting only water as a byproduct. But first, hydrogen must be separated from either water or fossil fuels such as natural gas - by methods that use energy from conventional sources or alternative sources such as wind, solar and hydro-power. For this reason, hydrogen is known to many as a currency of fuel, but not a fuel itself. Campbell said stripping hydrogen from natural gas is the most efficient way to build a supply. But that creates greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which would then have to be captured to make the method environmentally friendly. In other cases, nuclear power can separate hydrogen from water, which creates no greenhouse gases. "The menu of solutions is quite broad and going to depend on regional needs and economics," said Campbell. Hydropower in the Pacific Northwest would be a solution there, he said, particularly since hydropower can be much cheaper in off-peak hours. Although Ballard has yet to turn a profit, Campbell said the company forecasts earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be positive by the end of 2007. EBITDA is a key measure of cash flow. Last year revenues totaled about $120 million, up nearly a third from the year before. "We are a company that two years ago had no commercial products for sale; today we have six commercial products in the market place," said Campbell. Those products include backup power systems and carbon fibers. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Make Money Online Auctions! Make $500.00 or We Will Give You Thirty Dollars for Trying! http://us.click.yahoo.com/yMx78A/fNtFAA/i5gGAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
