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Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: coyote who wrote (2381)	4/17/1998 4:29:00 PM
From: Sid Turtlman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5827

coyote: Good point. One of the major expenses of hydrogen, however, is the storage and transportation, which would still exist even if manufactured with free electricity.

To: coyote who wrote (2381)	4/17/1998 6:40:00 PM
From: smw3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5827

The Schatz Energy Research Center (http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc) is currently constructing a large scale solar hydrogen refueling station for their fuel cell transportation demonstration project in Palm Desert, CA. The way they designed it, the solar array feeds into the grid at the highest wheeling buyback price during peak hours, then they run the electrolyzer dirt cheap at off peak grid prices at night. They're essentially using the grid for storage and producing H2 with the cheapest surplus power available. No one debates that PVs are a big investment, but guess what? It don't matter how much gas you buy, you wanna keep goin', you gotta buy more. You only buy PVs once, and they provide fuel for a lifetime. Clean fuel, for free. To deny that economy based on a higher first cost that is artificially inflated with respect to the cost of oil (hey Sid, ever hear of the Gulf War? Cost us $40 billion...), and at the same time ignore the environmental degradation that we are causing by continuing to use oil at the rate we are, is pure ignorance. In the end, we'll all pay, one way or another. Makes sense to me to start pumping money into something that pays off once it's paid for.