Powering the Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World [Hardcover]

Tom Koppel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1999

Powering the Future tells the intriguing story of a tiny high-tech research company that developed one of the few truly revolutionary and transforming technologies of our era. Today, Ballard Power Systems is the world leader in fuel cell technology — a non-polluting energy source that could one day replace the internal combustion engine and power the cars of the future.

Geoffrey Ballard and a handful of colleagues — at the outset little more than "three guys and a prayer" — brought this neglected technology to the world. On gritty determination and a shoestring budget, they took fuel cells out of the lab and into the mainstream of business. They made the fuel cell smaller, cheaper, and vastly more powerful over an astonishingly short time — actually melting down cables as they realized a fifty-fold increase in power output.

Powering the Future not only chronicles the company's impressive rise against stiff odds and intense competition; it also teaches valuable lessons about vision and inspiration, creating a culture of loyalty and dedication, attracting and keeping talented people, and marketing and selling an underdog technology to the biggest players in the auto world. Powering the Future is the entertaining and inspirational account of how a tiny high-tech research company grew, and became poised to literally change the way we live.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The fuel cell, an electrochemical device powered by hydrogen fuel and oxygen, might become the gasoline-substitute scientists have been searching for. (It generates electricity to drive the car's wheels silently.) In this new book, Canadian financial journalist Koppel details one company's contribution to development of the fuel cell for use in automobiles. Less an inside account than a technical report, the book describes the crucial years of research and development when a small staff with a small budget produced impressive results. But this report is flawed by its lack of cohesion, an over-reliance on technical jargon, and the absence of a real story. (It also lacks an index.) Much like Joe Sherman's Charging Ahead (LJ 7/98), this book prepares us for a world that is still a long way off. Some of the corporate intrigue detailed here is interesting, and the technically advanced may find this book compelling. But lay readers might want to wait for a useful electric car to actually get here before reading about it.AEric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

" Ballard's rise from its humble beginnings in a makeshift lab in Arizona in the 1970's to its pivotal position today -- DaimlerChrysler and Ford both hold stakes in it -- makes compelling reading. And Mr. Koppel explains the technology in a way that the average reader can understand. " -- Fred Brock, New York Times, February 4, 2000

"Ballard...devised a fuel cell that....could turn...Ballard Power Systems into the Intel of the automotive industry in the coming century -- providing the crucial technology that powers the automotive future....[It is] exciting--a story of dreams that come true--but tinged with sadness since the person who conjured up the dreams was on the sidelines when they were realized. Tom Koppel does an excellent job...tracing the history of Ballard Power and detailing the scientific search that let it build what so many people thought was impossible: an alternative to the internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen....Well-researched, fair-minded...[a] stirring tribute...to the creative spirit." -- Harvey Schachter, Globe & Mail, Toronto

"Koppel chronicles how Ballard Power System's vision transformed fuel cells from a utopian, pollution-free power source to a feasible, marketable technology....Scientific discovery was only part of the challenge. Along the way, [founder Geoffrey] Ballard and his engineers had to cajole government agencies for grants, keep creditors at bay, and line up private sector investors. Yet when it became apparent that the...technology really might work, the company had to [change] from a tiny enclave of dreamy engineers into a hard-boiled firm capable of mass producing and mass marketing thousands of fuel cells. This...called for a new voice....[New CEO] Firoz Rasul...brought Ballard into the financial big leagues. The big breakthrough came when he brought in huge investments from Daimler Benz...and Ford....Stockbrokers now rave that Ballard has the potential to become the Intel of the auto business. This transformation resulted in the conflicts that makes 'Powering the Future' a very interesting book." -- Drew Hasselback, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter, Rhinecliff, NY

"Powering the Future" tells the technical and human story of how the Ballard fuel cell was born, thanks to the leadership of an idealistic former geologist, Geoffrey Ballard....[He] and his handful of engineers and chemists began with little knowledge of fuel cells. The first versions had been developed by General Electric for moonshots. But the large American company had lost interest and the patents had largely expired....What the Ballard team brought to the story was engineering and passion. Using bits of plastic and sheets of graphite...they steadily increased the power output [and] cut costs by reducing the amount of...platinum needed....They showed off their work at a conference in Arizona, and the American [government] suddenly woke up to the fact that [it] had been backing the wrong sort of fuel cell. The Ballard...cell made the electric motor car a real possibility, just as the tide of green protests against car smog was causing California to compel car makers to produce zero-emission vehicles." -- The Economist, January 15, 2000

Amazon.com's Editor for Business & Investing, Harry C. Edwards, has selected Powering the Future as one of the ten best business books of 1999. -- An Amazon.com Editor's Pick

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471644218
• ISBN-13: 978-0471644217
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,314,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to enjoy car driving as well as enviromental protection, February 5, 2000

By 

Dr Kenneth Ricker (Würzburg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Powering the Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating book for people who are interested in technology as well as in enviroment. It is easy to read and to understand. In a lively way it tells us the story (always a "mystery") how a group of determined people are able to achive a technological break through and financial success. More than that: It gives us an idea how a technology, the fuell cell, is working and the way in which this technology will change our living in the cities within the comming decades: Cars moving around without pollution and without noise! It probably will be great funn.

It was a pleasure reading this book. It actually enlarged my horizon.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Timely, and on a Tremendous Topic of Interest, April 26, 2000

By 

Dr. Rob Wilder (Maui, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Powering the Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World (Hardcover)

With great timing, the Author has delivered great insights into what possibly shall become one of THE most impressive developments of our day: making the fuel cell price-competitive with the oil-burning internal combustion engine. Having his easy-reading, often humorous, always trustworthy accounts of a technical evolution towards the latest Mark 900 Ballard PEM fuel cell engine is great fun. I highly recommend this Book to all.

I only wish that there were similar books too, perhaps from this or from other authors, about Ballard's rivals like the FuelCell Energy MCFC fuel cell, the passive DMFC from DCH Technology and Manhattan Scientifics, the SOFC from Global Thermoelectric, the United Technologies PAFC unit from IFC, and those from Plug Power, Avista Corporation, Anuvu, Astris Energi, and a growing list of others. Perhaps the Author will do us the favor of a new Book, one that surveys rapid growth and notable accomplishments as we now move ahead, towards a Hydrogen Economy? Of course the topic of a Hydrogen Economy is a whole new topic unto itself, and one where Mr. Ballard (and his General Hydrogen Corp.) may soon again figure prominently.

I suspect this great book will fire your interest in the fuel cell, as it certainly has done for me. Dr. Rob Wilder, [e-mail]

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to how the fuel cell evolved, July 24, 2000

By 

canaduck "canaduck" (The Great White North) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Powering the Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World (Hardcover)

Founder Geoff Ballard lived by the words "Dare to be in a hurry to change things for the better." Powering the Future is a story about Geoff Ballard and a small team of people that stuck together and pioneered PEM fuel cell technology. Ballard, the company, does not endorse the book because of the bad blood that existed between the new leadership and the old guard. It's hard to say who was right but the survival of the fuel cell required partnering with companies like DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor Company. It also required a lot of PR talent that the the founder did not have. The book has an excellent overview of how a fuel cell works. Once you read it you will learn how fuel cells work and how the hydrogen economy can one day transform the world. Ballard, the company, continues to have awesome potential and a lot of talented people working there. I know because I work there too.