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Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells
BLDP 2.850-2.1%10:53 AM EST

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To: Sid Turtlman who wrote (2693)6/6/1998 7:47:00 PM
From: Thomas Stewart  Read Replies (1) of 5827
 
You wrote: "Take a look at the numbers: Ballard's stationary power plant reports
31% efficiency, with a goal of someday reaching 40%. ERC's
molten carbonate cells do near 50%, with a target of 58%.
Westinghouse's solid oxide fuel cells ought to be in the same
ballpark as ERC's. Why? Because both designs of fuel cell run
so hot they don't need a reformer, and that heat means that, in
addition, both can tack on gains from cogeneration."

But consider whether running hot is advantageous when power is decentralized. Maybe we move from a centralized power grid to a decentralized one. No blackouts and many other advantages as well.
(Yes, that is a quite a leap into the future, but we are dealing with the future here anyway. And if it helps, this is already happening to some extent. See
forbes.com )

Even consider local contributions to the power grid. I read in an earlier post this tantalizing idea: we pull into our garages at night and tap into the natural gas already pumped into our houses (many houses anyway) and actually contribute to the power grid.

Anyway, these are all fanciful notions. May question, as stated earlier, is whether running hot is advantageous under these local, in-home conditions. I really don't know what is involved in cogen--it may not matter as we all have "hot" furnaces in our basements. Please clarify.
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