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

To: John M Connolly who wrote (3933)	3/25/1999 9:35:00 AM
From: Sid Turtlman	Respond to of 5827

John: You can get a rough idea of the energy consumption of the reformer by comparing the efficiency (actual, and hoped for) of low temperature fuel cells (PEM and phos acid) which require a reformer, and high temperature types (carbonate and solid oxide) which don't. Ballard (PEM) has reported 32% efficiency in a stationary power test, and has stated its goal of eventually reaching 40%. I believe ONSI's phos acid units are close to 40%. ERC's carbonate units have reported close to 50% and have a target of 58%; Siemens' (Westinghouse) solid oxides have similar numbers. All of these numbers are for the fuel cell as a fuel cell, with no credit being given for cogeneration gains, which the high temperature ones would have, and the low temperatures not, or barely. I don't think that the high temperature ones are inherently more efficient than the low temperature ones, so most or all of the differential must be due to the energy losses of the reformer. This is a much bigger issue in stationary power than in auto's, because natural gas, the fuel of choice for stationary, requires much higher temperatures to reform than does methanol.