February 29, 2000
Saskatoon firm advances process for hydrogen fuel
Paul Hanley
Whatever I do, do the opposite. That is the advice I frequently give my
sons when it comes to financial matters.
A case in point. Several years ago, I was looking for some
environmentally friendly stock to invest in. There was this little
company that had developed a hydrogen fuel cell that promised to make
cars pollution-free. Now here, thought I, is a technology with a lot of
potential.
The stock was selling for $7. I hemmed and hawed for a while until I
noticed the stocks had shot up to almost $20. Too late, thought I. To
make a long story short, if my sons had followed my advice, and done
the opposite of what I didn't do, they would have made a bundle on
Ballard Power. Their student loans would be retired - and so would
they.
Ballard, as you will know if you watch either stock or energy issues, is
a darling of the stock market. It's hydrogen fuel cell, if perfected,
will provide an unlimited fuel source that emits only water. No smog,
no carbon dioxide, no global warming. Nothing but money.
There is one little flaw in this good news story, though. It takes
energy to make hydrogen from water. So to make hydrogen fuel cells, you
still have to burn polluting fuels. The way around this is to use
electricity from solar or wind to break down water into hydrogen and
oxygen. The problem is, the current cost of solar and wind is still
prohibitive when making the amounts of hydrogen required to fuel large
numbers of cars.
That's where Saskatoon's Solar Hydrogen Energy Company (SHEC) - a
company I first mentioned in this column two months ago - comes in.
SHEC says it is solving this problem by completely bypassing the
electrical process and instead using the heat energy of the sun. SHEC
concentrates sunlight with reflectors to create the heat required to
split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Since reflectors are much less
expensive to manufacture than solar PV panels, the potential is there
for an economically viable "clean and renewable" hydrogen source.
On January 31, 2000, after extensive testing, SHEC says it
scientifically validated an augmentation process it developed to split
water. If the process proves to be as effective as they hope it is,
Saskatoon's research and develpment community could have another
Ballard in its midst.
Maybe I should see if they're selling shares?
Posted by permission of Paul Hanley.
Hanley is a Saskatoon freelance-writer with a special interest in
environmental issues.
