Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Catalytica Energy Systems, Inc. (CESI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Erik T who wrote (1448)	1/24/2000 3:51:00 AM
From: Erik T	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1514

But wait, isn't the current rage fuel cells? Don't you believe it, at least not for another 10-20 years. Regardless of all the hype, they are just too expensive to be practical. Plug Power has a unit to be installed at homes. It will serve a small niche market, those whose lives are disrupted by frequent power outages or those in rural areas that cannot connect to the electric grid. They make a lot of talk about producing cheaper power, but when I input my info into their calculator, the Microgen would save me $3.00 on my monthly electric bill. Of course, the machine will probably cost about $7,000, require monthly servicing and every 40,000 hours (4.5 years) a major overhaul. It will be hard for most people to justify the expense. Besides, Xonon really does not compete in this space anyway. Fuel cells for distributed power applications at businesses or hospitals is just not economical. Natural gas turbines are significantly cheaper, even with Xonon applied. Businesses are very unlikely to take on the additional expense associated with fuel cells. Electric utilities are even less likely to use fuel cells. Again, way too expensive. Fuel Cell Energy recently agreed to build a pilot 250kw fuel cell plant for an LA municipality. Cost: $2.45 million for 250 kw of power. That's $9,800 per kw. Natural gas turbine power plants are generally on the order of $300-400 per kw. Fuel cells are an exciting technology. In 10 or 20 years they may have made enough improvements for mainstream applications. Until then, they remain useful for very specific niche applications and those with help from huge subsidies, either government or otherwise. But aren't fuel cells even cleaner than Xonon-equiped turbines? Not really, they are about the same. Fuel Cell Energy's product: 0.45 ppm NOx, 2 ppm CO, 4 ppm HC Plug Power Microgen fuel cell: 50 ppm CO !!!!! Xonon-equiped Kawasaki: <1.5 ppm NOx, <2 ppm CO, <2 ppm HC It is amazing that the investment community has gotten it all wrong. The next ten years is not about fuel cells...it is about Xonon!