Product Description

Powering the Future tells the intriguing story of a tiny high-tech research company that developed one of the few truly revolutionary and transforming technologies of our era. Today, Ballard Power Systems is the world leader in fuel cell technology — a non-polluting energy source that could one day replace the internal combustion engine and power the cars of the future.

Geoffrey Ballard and a handful of colleagues — at the outset little more than "three guys and a prayer" — brought this neglected technology to the world. On gritty determination and a shoestring budget, they took fuel cells out of the lab and into the mainstream of business. They made the fuel cell smaller, cheaper, and vastly more powerful over an astonishingly short time — actually melting down cables as they realized a fifty-fold increase in power output.

Powering the Future not only chronicles the company's impressive rise against stiff odds and intense competition; it also teaches valuable lessons about vision and inspiration, creating a culture of loyalty and dedication, attracting and keeping talented people, and marketing and selling an underdog technology to the biggest players in the auto world. Powering the Future is the entertaining and inspirational account of how a tiny high-tech research company grew, and became poised to literally change the way we live.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #642157 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
The fuel cell, an electrochemical device powered by hydrogen fuel and oxygen, might become the gasoline-substitute scientists have been searching for. (It generates electricity to drive the car's wheels silently.) In this new book, Canadian financial journalist Koppel details one company's contribution to development of the fuel cell for use in automobiles. Less an inside account than a technical report, the book describes the crucial years of research and development when a small staff with a small budget produced impressive results. But this report is flawed by its lack of cohesion, an over-reliance on technical jargon, and the absence of a real story. (It also lacks an index.) Much like Joe Sherman's Charging Ahead (LJ 7/98), this book prepares us for a world that is still a long way off. Some of the corporate intrigue detailed here is interesting, and the technically advanced may find this book compelling. But lay readers might want to wait for a useful electric car to actually get here before reading about it.AEric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Economist, January 15, 2000
"Powering the Future" tells the technical and human story of how the Ballard fuel cell was born, thanks to the leadership of an idealistic former geologist, Geoffrey Ballard....[He] and his handful of engineers and chemists began with little knowledge of fuel cells. The first versions had been developed by General Electric for moonshots. But the large American company had lost interest and the patents had largely expired....What the Ballard team brought to the story was engineering and passion. Using bits of plastic and sheets of graphite...they steadily increased the power output [and] cut costs by reducing the amount of...platinum needed....They showed off their work at a conference in Arizona, and the American [government] suddenly woke up to the fact that [it] had been backing the wrong sort of fuel cell. The Ballard...cell made the electric motor car a real possibility, just as the tide of green protests against car smog was causing California to compel car makers to produce zero-emission vehicles."

Fred Brock, New York Times, February 4, 2000
" Ballard's rise from its humble beginnings in a makeshift lab in Arizona in the 1970's to its pivotal position today -- DaimlerChrysler and Ford both hold stakes in it -- makes compelling reading. And Mr. Koppel explains the technology in a way that the average reader can understand. "

Customer Reviews

Durability, Useful life, and Cost enter point will determine when fuel cells enter the market.
Fuel cells will enter a particular market once the cost of the fuel cell hits a particular cost point and becomes cost competitive. Fuel cells must reach a tolerable durability level of useful life of more than 5,000 hours. Suppose, a fuel cells operational life is 1,000 hours or 20,000 miles than durability issues inhibit consumer investment until fuel cells reach 5,000 hours operational levels or 100,000 miles making them feasible. Introduction of the fuel cell will probably start with PCs and handheld PDAs then be introduced into transit and commercial fleets, and finally automobiles when cost reduces to $50 kilowatt. Suppose that new passenger vehicle market sells 17 million vehicles and new transit vehicle sells are 5,000 per year. It is doubtful that fuel cell manufacturers will be able to recoup their investment, if they are sell primarily to the transit vehicle market. Initially fuel cell manufacturers will depend on government subsidizes that support the public transit system. Automotive market is the only market segment that offers sufficient volume to attract the interest of, and investment by, the vehicle manufacturers and fuel cell manufacturers. "10% market penetration" is needed to create adequate momentum for the fuel cell technology to propel itself forward exponential and replace the internal combustion engine.

Fuel cell cars will follow a three phase cycle: pre-production vehicles, number in the hundreds which will be tested and improved; phase II, next generation fuel cell vehicles into fleets numbering in the thousands; and phase III, adoption sells of tens of thousands of vehicles. Factors affecting the three phases will be gasoline and diesel prices, technical issues such as durability and useful life, government incentives to support initial introduction tactics, standard for hydrogen production, and the development of hydrogen infrastructure (Stuart Energy Systems, HydrogenSource, Proton Energy Systems, and H2Gen are offering commercial hydrogen appliances). Volume production means learning how to make identical products, with real quality control, and meeting customer expectations.

Ballard's PEM fuel cell stacks largely solved the cost problem. Ballard estimated that fuel cell stacks could be made available at $5 worth of catlyst per kilowatt of electricity generated, or about $300 for a small car needing a sixty kilowatt stack. Dupont's Nafion membrane was over designed lasting 100,000 hours, whereas, the automobile membrane running only part time lasted 5,000 to 10,000 hours in its lifetime. The membrane dropped in cost into the range of $5 to 15 per square foot. Ballard set out to create its own membrane. Ballard aimed at a small production of specialized polymers which were taylor made for small niche markets. Steck third generation lightly flourine membrane managed to reach 15,000 hours operation threshholds. Ballard had managed to create a superior membrane for 2 to 3 million dollars verses $100 million dollars to develop the Dupont Naifon membrane.

Ballard could be the Intel of the automotive industry. "If an industry standard is reached in what is the core component of a car, the engine, then even a newcomer from the outside such as Ballard could become the price leader. Ballard is recognized as the leader in PEM fuel cell technology and has experience in stack cell technology, stack components, and integration of stacks with fuel processors. Ballard maybe the first company too offer $20-35 kilowatt or $2,250-3,750 for 75 kilowatt engines. The race is on to make fuel cells cars affordable.

excellent history and biography
This is an excellent history of the Ballard fuel cell and biography of Geoffrey Ballard, the man behind the Ballard fuel cell.
The writing is excellent, and his ability to explain the super technical process of Hydrogen fuel cell technology, in terms that lay people can completly understand, keeps you from putting this book down.
I really hope that Tom Koppel keeps up on this company, and the industry in whole, and writes another book as good as this one, keeping us updated on the supersonic speed of advancement in this Incredible field of energy.
I loved this book.

A good story about a start-up company
This is a good book about Ballard Fuel Cell Company. It tells the story about taking the fuel-cell technology for electricity production from an oddity used in space to mass-market commercialization. The process is still going on so the book cannot conclude that Ballard has reached their goal, but the book does a good job explaining how Ballard reached their current state.
From a technical point of view one can argue that the author focuses too much on fuel cell development and too little on the necessary hydrogen delivery infrastructure, which is required to operate the fuel cells.
The book is also a good study in growing a start-up company. It shows how the founding entrepreneur pushes the idea forward until the company reaches a size where people with other qualities are needed to run the company. It shows how a company with hardly any products on the market can retain the public interest by carefully manage the information flow. Finally the book shows that it is possible for a relative small company to start development relationships with big multinational companies and still retain most of their independence.