The e-Journal on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Ballard (Nasdaq: BLDP) had its very own October surprise, which caused the stock to take a nosedive. Though worse than expected, the USD 0.03 net loss per share and revenues of as little as USD 21.6 million weren’t to blame for the slump. Neither was the company’s low cash level of USD 23.2 million, reduced by inventory and AFCC asset purchases, nor the 2018 revenue target
Power purchase agreements are a central part of FuelCell Energy’s new corporate strategy. These agreements allow for long-term community purchases of electricity and energy. Not too long ago, the company concluded several contracts to that effect. One example is a 14.8-megawatt site in Derby, Connecticut. Meanwhile, it has been adding fuel cell power plants to its inventory as well, as it did last November
Hydrogenics (Nasdaq: HYGS) seems to be facing similar headwinds in China, mostly with regard to funding, bid requests and grant approval. It said the country offered excellent prospects; everything was just moving along a bit more slowly than expected. At the very least, backlog at Hydrogenics added up to USD 132 million, more than half of which originates with Alstom contracts for fuel cell trains. Thirty trains have already been ordered and more are said to follow this year.
Considering the many possible uses of fuel cells, the market for them won’t go up in a straight line. Nor will the large-scale production of cheap renewable hydrogen be a goal that can be accomplished overnight. Still, new hydrogen fueling stations will be added at a steady pace, and it will only be a matter of time until mass-produced fuel cell cars are available for sale.
The sky’s the limit, you might have been thinking, when Tesla’s stock jumped from USD 240 to about USD 340 in few days. On Oct. 23, 2018, a short while before the company said that it would preschedule the publication of third-quarter results, a well-known short seller named Andrew Left, of Citron Research, changed his outlook on Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). In what seemed like a 180-degree turn from his previous position, he stated
Attendees from Europe, Asia and even North America had a long way to travel to this year’s World Hydrogen Energy Conference. In the end, however, more than 550 came to the event, which took place June 17 to 22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They were rewarded with a lot of interesting material. What caught the imagination of many was the story of natural hydrogen
The difference between microbial fuel cells and devices converting energy by purely chemical means is that bacteria and not artificial materials, such as polymer electrolyte membranes and ceramic oxide parts, control the reaction. Instead of a catalyst, microbes will feed on organic matter, for example, wastewater and lactic acid, to generate a voltage through metabolic activity.
Here’s an intriguing idea: Don’t burn off most waste gases produced by steelmaking but turn them into basic chemicals and capture the carbon dioxide they contain instead of discharging it into the air. It is an idea with only one caveat, in that it will most likely take another 15 years before industrial-scale systems are available. Still, thyssenkrupp has taken the first step by starting its Carbon2Chem® project in Duisburg in mid-September.
IPHE, the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy, was set up in 2003 to expedite the transition to clean and efficient energy and transportation systems based on fuel cells and hydrogen, or FCH. As an intergovernmental organization, it offers a global platform for discussing policies, initiatives, technological advances
Considering we are confronted with new facts almost every day, it should come as no surprise that the controversy surrounding nitrogen oxides and fine dust, blue badges and diesel bans in German cities shows no sign of letting up. Likewise, automakers are a recurrent subject on the evening news, whether they want to or not. Despite, or probably because, every news cycle delivers more information about how the industry cheated during emission tests, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the latest developments.