Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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, rob@pacificwhale.org

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.

The Hydrogen revolution has started with the unexpected emergence and success of fuel cell maker Ballard Power Systems. This is a very exciting industry. We are looking towards a future of abundant clean energy. Greenland is racing to become the first ever hydrogen economy, extricating itself from the reliance on foreign oil, and positioning itself as a possible future exporter of hydrogen. Oil companies are scrambling to redefine themselves as "energy companies." Innovative companies such as Energy Conversion Devices have come up with technologies allowing safe hydrogen storage.

I suggest this book for anyone interested in environment and the future of energy.

This is a good book about Ballard Fuel Cell Company. It tells the story about taking the fuel-cell technology for electricity production from an oddity used in space to mass-market commercialization. The process is still going on so the book cannot conclude that Ballard has reached their goal, but the book does a good job explaining how Ballard reached their current state.
From a technical point of view one can argue that the author focuses too much on fuel cell development and too little on the necessary hydrogen delivery infrastructure, which is required to operate the fuel cells.
The book is also a good study in growing a start-up company. It shows how the founding entrepreneur pushes the idea forward until the company reaches a size where people with other qualities are needed to run the company. It shows how a company with hardly any products on the market can retain the public interest by carefully manage the information flow. Finally the book shows that it is possible for a relative small company to start development relationships with big multinational companies and still retain most of their independence.

This book is a great case study in management and innovation. It shows once again that a small group of dedicated individuals can compete successfully against much larger competitors.

Fuel cells have long been successful in space craft. Soon you will be able to use them in your vehicles and buildings. Utility power plants typically discard about 60% of the heat energy from fuel. A fuel cell in your home would provide electricity efficiently. Instead of discarding the heat, you could use the fuel cell to heat your water everyday and provide some winter space heating.

A fuel cell in your vehicle will increase fuel efficiency and eliminate the need for oil changes.

About 40 cubic miles of crude oil remain available for more than six billion people, and we are consuming more than one cubic mile each year. By helping to reduce fuel consumption, fuel cells will help us to delay and reduce the severity of the coming shortages of fossil fuels.

....

I believe Mr. Koppel had a tough choice in crafting book - how to tell the story of the company and the personalities involved, while at the same time explain the technology - which is quite fascinating and a topic of its own. To achieve this and not end up with a 1000 page text is a hard thing to do.

However - I wish they had made a choice on covering one topic and doing it justice - in this case the story of the company and the personalities involved. Koppel managed to gloss over ...some (to me) very significant episodes in the history of the firm. Perhaps he was not privy to all the details - but that in itself is a confusing issue as well. It seems he had access to Geoffrey Ballard and Fairoz Rasul - but does mention that Rasul told him that Ballard Power Systems would not assist in the creation of this book. The timing of this statement is not clear - did it happen while the book was being researched or after or before?

This also leads to another problem in the accounts - they are very Geoffrey Ballard centric and as the book explains - Ballard was a powerful personality and therefore (assumption here) prone to being very opinionated. One wonders how much of the other 2 sides of the story ... we are missing.

Furthermore, Ballard was not actively involved in the company when it really made its transformation from R&D focused niche player to commercial entity. That period, to me as a student of organizational behaviour, would have been very rich in detail on how the company managed the change, got the message across, set its strategy, executed at the tactical level, protected its interests, won or lost on the issues, etc. All of that is given a summary passing over "obstacles were overcome ...", "effeciencies were increased...", etc.

That left me sort of hanging. I commend the book for taking on a very rich subject and trying to navigate the highlights. But that tactic left me just short of being really enlightened about either fuel cell technology or growing a small niche business into a viable commercial entity. Thus the mediocre score.

Fuel cells will enter a particular market once the cost of the fuel cell hits a particular cost point and becomes cost competitive. Fuel cells must reach a tolerable durability level of useful life of more than 5,000 hours. Suppose, a fuel cells operational life is 1,000 hours or 20,000 miles than durability issues inhibit consumer investment until fuel cells reach 5,000 hours operational levels or 100,000 miles making them feasible. Introduction of the fuel cell will probably start with PCs and handheld PDAs then be introduced into transit and commercial fleets, and finally automobiles when cost reduces to $50 kilowatt. Suppose that new passenger vehicle market sells 17 million vehicles and new transit vehicle sells are 5,000 per year. It is doubtful that fuel cell manufacturers will be able to recoup their investment, if they are sell primarily to the transit vehicle market. Initially fuel cell manufacturers will depend on government subsidizes that support the public transit system. Automotive market is the only market segment that offers sufficient volume to attract the interest of, and investment by, the vehicle manufacturers and fuel cell manufacturers. "10% market penetration" is needed to create adequate momentum for the fuel cell technology to propel itself forward exponential and replace the internal combustion engine.

Fuel cell cars will follow a three phase cycle: pre-production vehicles, number in the hundreds which will be tested and improved; phase II, next generation fuel cell vehicles into fleets numbering in the thousands; and phase III, adoption sells of tens of thousands of vehicles. Factors affecting the three phases will be gasoline and diesel prices, technical issues such as durability and useful life, government incentives to support initial introduction tactics, standard for hydrogen production, and the development of hydrogen infrastructure (Stuart Energy Systems, HydrogenSource, Proton Energy Systems, and H2Gen are offering commercial hydrogen appliances). Volume production means learning how to make identical products, with real quality control, and meeting customer expectations.

Ballard's PEM fuel cell stacks largely solved the cost problem. Ballard estimated that fuel cell stacks could be made available at $5 worth of catlyst per kilowatt of electricity generated, or about $300 for a small car needing a sixty kilowatt stack. Dupont's Nafion membrane was over designed lasting 100,000 hours, whereas, the automobile membrane running only part time lasted 5,000 to 10,000 hours in its lifetime. The membrane dropped in cost into the range of $5 to 15 per square foot. Ballard set out to create its own membrane. Ballard aimed at a small production of specialized polymers which were taylor made for small niche markets. Steck third generation lightly flourine membrane managed to reach 15,000 hours operation threshholds. Ballard had managed to create a superior membrane for 2 to 3 million dollars verses $100 million dollars to develop the Dupont Naifon membrane.

Ballard could be the Intel of the automotive industry. "If an industry standard is reached in what is the core component of a car, the engine, then even a newcomer from the outside such as Ballard could become the price leader. Ballard is recognized as the leader in PEM fuel cell technology and has experience in stack cell technology, stack components, and integration of stacks with fuel processors. Ballard maybe the first company too offer $20-35 kilowatt or $2,250-3,750 for 75 kilowatt engines. The race is on to make fuel cells cars affordable.

Koppel certainly did his homework, starting from square one right on through to the present. With careful character development, you were on the roller coaster of emotions of the company's three founders. Essential reading for any environmentalists, technologists and of course Ballard investors.

The most important trait of the book is that the author really addresses why and how fuelcell technology has enormous potential in large scale applications - and how it is not the freakish, niche market technology that oil companies have labeled it as.

I found myself engrossed for the bulk majority of the book, but as the climax approached the level of intensity and excitement waned slightly. However, by that point I was already thoroughly impressed with the saga and needed little more convincing of the points that Koppel was driving home.

This is an excellent history of the Ballard fuel cell and biography of Geoffrey Ballard, the man behind the Ballard fuel cell.
The writing is excellent, and his ability to explain the super technical process of Hydrogen fuel cell technology, in terms that lay people can completly understand, keeps you from putting this book down.
I really hope that Tom Koppel keeps up on this company, and the industry in whole, and writes another book as good as this one, keeping us updated on the supersonic speed of advancement in this Incredible field of energy.
I loved this book.