Fuel Cell

by Lee Shane When one thinks of fuel cells and fuel cell technology some names immediately come to mind.  Ballard Power (BLDP) went public in 1993 and was listed on NASDAQ in 1995. A company that made its debut in 1997 was Plug Power (PLUG), a joint venture between DTE Energy and Mechanical Technology Inc.  Hydrogenics (HYGS) is a company that has been around for 60 years, but more recently has gotten investor attention for their fuel cell technology. Most of the technology produced by well-known fuel cell companies share common features… They are based on...

Tom Konrad CFA While many people think first about hydrogen when they think of fuel cells, fuel cells are not limited to hydrogen.  They are a set of related technologies, many of which can generate electricity from a number of hydrocarbon fuels rather than hydrogen.  I limited my recent post on the rapid rise of hydrogen stocks to just US-listed companies involved in the production and use of hydrogen, leaving out foreign stocks and other fuel cell technologies for brevity. In my research for that article, however, I came across fully ten publicly traded companies involved with...

By Jeff Siegel It was boasted as an energy breakthrough. Bloom Energy's Bloom Box paraded around the media  including a very generous piece aired by 60 Minutes as some kind of new, game-changing magical energy creation device that would change the world. Problem is, it's not really “new.” And it's certainly not going to change the world. But don't tell that to the folks who are looking to take the company public, perhaps as soon as this year. Now, I'm not saying a Bloom Energy IPO would fail. In fact, based on the hype surrounding the...

by Debra Fiakas CFA This afternoon FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCEL:  Nasdaq) is scheduled to report results for its fiscal third quarter ending July 2012.  As its corporate name suggests the company produces fuel cells for use as power plants or grid alternatives.  FuelCell has customers, but has yet to reach profitability.  No embarrassment there.  None of the other U.S.-based fuel cell producers has delivered earnings to shareholders either and two have had to file for bankruptcy protection. Journalists have made light of fuel cell developers as perpetually unprofitable.  Last year one even made a list of profitable...

Tyler Hamilton There was a shareholder who stood up at Ballard Power’s annual meeting last week to share her experience with the company’s stock price. It pretty much summed up the frustration shared by most investors in the fuel-cell industry. This investor has owned Ballard (BLDP) shares for most of 20 years. She sold in early 2000 when the stock hit $140 a share and did quite well. That was when the hype around fuel-cell powered cars was approaching its fever pitch. Later that year she bought back into the company at about $120 a share, believing...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Most investors, if they have heard of Hydrogenics Corporation (HYGS: Nasdaq) at all, consider them a fuel cell producer. However, about two-thirds of the company’s revenue comes from the design and manufacture of hydrogen generation products based on water electrolysis technology - a somewhat unique, but valuable electrochemical technology that could make important contributions to the world’s future energy base. Electrolysis or the splitting of water molecules using an electric current produces hydrogen and oxygen - two elements that have market potential in a variety of industrial and power markets. It stands in...

Bill Paul Having been a Wall Street Journal energy and environment reporter, one of the first experts I would have called before running a story on privately-held solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) developer Bloom Energy would have been Neal Dikeman, who in addition to being a prominent alternative energy investor and the writer of an authoritative blog on clean technology, was involved in developing a fuel cell company. But as Dikeman posted lasted week – Saving Cleantech: Bloom town Silicon Valley? – he didn’t get a call from the folks at CBS’s 60 Minutes, so the raft of legitimate technical...

From Small Fries to Big Shots? (Pt. 2 of 2) Bill Paul Here now are two more small alternative energy companies, both of which look to be just starting to hit their stride. How far they'll go only time will tell, but each seems to warrant a closer look. Take note: like the vast number of other pure-play alternative energy firms with intriguing growth prospects, neither of these is U.S.-based. Rule of thumb: whether you're a big institutional or small individual investor, to succeed in alternative energy, you must scour every corner of the earth. First up: CBD Energy,...

Charles Morand The DOE made public earlier today the amount of money that will awarded to clean power projects in lieu of the usual tax breaks: $3 billion. This will allow project proponents to receive a direct cash grant now instead of a Production Tax Credit or an Investment Tax Credit later on. The guidance document notes the following: "Section 1603 of the Act’s tax title, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act, appropriates funds for payments to persons who place in service specified energy property during 2009 or 2010 or after 2010 if construction began...

Like most conglomerates, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), (NYSE:UTX) won't be found in any of the Clean Energy indices, but its growing portfolio of clean energy businesses makes it fit well into a diversified portfolio with a clean energy tilt.  A conservative capital structure and solid earnings and cash flow, and a decades long history of constantly increasing dividends make this a company that I'm comfortable holding for the long term.   In terms of sustainability, the company has been recognized by Dow Jones as in the top 10% of the world's most sustainable companies.  Long before it became fashionable for...

About 4 or 5 years ago micro fuel cells were quite a hot topic in cleantech. They were going to power our laptops, cell phones, PDAs, blackberries, hand held multimedia devices, etc. The story ran like this: The digital age and increasing customer demand for more power hungry features like bandwidth, multimedia, et al on mobile devices like laptops, PDAs and cellphones mean the increase in power requirements are outstripping the pace of technology of lithium ion battery - therefore the only solutions will be micro fuel cells. And since battery manufacturers are a plodding, unimaginative lot,...

The following is an excerpt from a press release from the Department of Energy (DoE) that came out today: "DOE’s Hydrogen Program and Fuel Cells 2000 have released a new searchable database of fuel cell and hydrogen activities in the United States. The database allows better access to information on stationary fuel cell installations, vehicle demonstrations and fueling stations – as well as state policies, initiatives and legislation aimed at advancing these technologies." Try running some queries on the database of fuel cell and hydrogen activities. I didn't check out the website too extensively but from what...

Overview In light of oil prices reaching 60 to 70 dollars a barrel, attention is being paid to alternative energy technology, in the hope that it might answer our problems. The major role player right now, especially in terms of replacing combustion engines in cars and trucks, is the fuel cell industry. There are many types of commercially available fuel cells, ranging from ethanol to hydrogen. However, our readers and the public sometimes find it hard to keep up with all the technological terms and the latest inventions and research. This is a simplified summary of the science...

Finding the latest discoveries and the recent developments in energy research can lead to some home runs in investing. Microbial fuel cells are in their infancy today but this emerging technology shows promise to one day be the cornerstone of highly profitable companies. What are Microbial Fuel Cells ( MFC’s ) Most of us have heard of fuel cells. In a ‘traditional’ fuel cell, hydrogen fuel is combined with oxygen to create electricity with water as a byproduct. Microbial fuel cells are biological fuel cells that use bacteria to create electric power with a sugar such as...

Ballard Power (BLDP) has delivered the first prototypes of its next generation fuel cell, the Mark 1030 V3, for the residential cogeneration market to EBARA BALLARD Corporation (Ballard's Japan-based joint venture with the EBARA Corporation). The prototypes are for integration and testing in 1 kW residential cogeneration systems. Featuring increased reliability and lifetime, with significantly less weight and volume, the Mark 1030 V3 fuel cell has been designed in alignment with the 2008 Japanese government targets of 40,000 hours operation, equivalent to a system lifetime of 10 years in the home.

Millennium Cell Inc (MCEL) said that Dow Chemical Co. bought $1.3 million of its convertible preferred stock, the latest step in their joint development agreement. The two companies are working to develop portable fuel cell systems for use in consumer electronics and military applications. Under their three-year joint program, which began in 2005, Millennium Cell will grant stock to Dow as it achieves certain milestones, as well as give Dow the opportunity to buy more stock.