ERC is broadcasting its quarterly earnings conference call over the internet this Thursday afternoon: biz.yahoo.com
For those unfamiliar with the company, ERC is the leader in carbonate fuel cells, which are a different type than the PEM fc's that Ballard, Plug Power, and most other companies have been working on.
Carbonate fc's have little or no potential to be used in cars, because they are not as compact as PEM, but have some characteristics that make them superior, IMO, for stationary power. They are much more efficient than PEM (converting natural gas to electricity at efficiencies of 50% and above, compared to 40% or less for PEM), which means that they are also cleaner than PEM in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
Because they operate at a higher temperature, ERC's fc's can take in natural gas directly as a fuel and not need to run it through an external reformer to create the hydrogen first. Reformers are expensive in capital cost and energy consumption. Not needing one should help ERC offer the lowest cost, most efficient stationary power fuel cell in the market, once production is fully ramped up.
No one can say for sure that any of the fuel cell companies will ever make any money, but I think ERC's chances are as good or better than any of the others, yet its market cap is quite modest. |
