The latest Economist magazine seems to think so - as it says;

"The multi-billion dollar question is whether the skills that make somebody a successful  executive, entrepreneur or investor in digital technology also work with green technology"

I agree that there's perhaps too much focus on the numbers and the underlying technologies. What's all too often underrated, is how good or bad is the management. That's why I launched the AEI CEO Interview series, to add a qualitative, vital intangible angle to any given company and an insight into the people behind the firms and how they see their industry panning out.

Now back to the geeks, who are more often than not, the investors rather than the entrepreneurs in this scenario. And what's interesting is that they tend to be more involved in the riskier venture capital part of the alternative energy marketplace - people like Vinod Kholsa - rather than where AEI steps in, the public markets. The exception of course is Bill Gates and Pacific Ethanol - a far from successful investment .

Today I'm launching the AEI www.altenergyinvestor.org CEO interview series and I'm delighted to kick it off with Stephen Voller, CEO and Founder of Voller Energy Plc.



Dan Lewis: Stephen,  how did your career develop to becoming Founder and Chief Executive of Voller Energy?

 

Stephen Voller: I worked in the IT business for IBM and then Netscape. As I travelled around the world with my laptop I wondered why a product that got ever more sophisticated never seemed to have enough battery life. I came up with the idea of using a light, renewable fuel cell to charge the batteries.

DL: What is your vision for Voller Energy?

SV: Our vision is to become the leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of fuel cell technology to the mass market.  We are already one of the first companies in the world who have deliverable technology, and portable fuel cells are widely predicted to be the first type of fuel cell to reach a mass market.  Voller is now well placed as an early leader in this sector.

In the future we will use energy differently. Instead of using a national grid to power our homes, I believe that we will generate our own power and use the grid as back-up. We will sell power back to the grid for others to use, or store the energy in batteries to power our cars. Voller is positioning itself for this new world.  I believe that our children and our children’s children will look back on our generation as the one that was decadent with energy and squandered it all. They will also label us the ‘dirty generation’ because of the effect we have had on the planet.

We simply cannot go on using the fossil fuels at the current rate and we cannot go on producing the very high level of emissions that we do.  More and more people are now realising that the technology to address this problem exists in fuel cells. Because fuel cells are much more fuel efficient we can make our natural resources go further, and the emissions from them are much lower.  So we can keep the lights on, but reduce the effects of climate change.

DL: What do you think your latest financial results say about the company?

SV: The results reflect that fact that we are still in the early adopting phase of this technology roll out. All new technologies go through the early adopter, growth, maturity and decline cycles. For example PC’s are now mature technology and it was the internet that pushed them through their growth phase.

We can address niche or specialist markets today such as high end leisure applications for yachts and motor-caravans, and the desperate need for low-emission generators in the construction sector. Our low noise, low vibration products are ideal for these markets.

As our production volumes grow we will benefit from the economies of scale and the prices will fall and sales will increase as we begin the growth phase.

DL: Who are your competitors and why do you think you are better than they are?

SV: We provide solutions for our customers using the best of breed systems that are available. The majority of players in the fuel cell industry see us as a customer rather than competitor. Our ‘competition’ is really conventional generators rather than other fuel cell companies.  We have renewable technology and are we are already manufacturing fuel cells to order.

DL: Why do you think the fuel cell industry has generally failed to fulfill the high expectations of the late 90s?

SV: In the 1990s people’s expectations were unrealistic in terms of deliverable products to the mass market.  This is a relatively new industry and, although most fuel cell companies have technology, Voller is one of the few that has actually delivered solutions based on this technology to real customers.

DL: How do you see the fuel cell industry developing over the next 2, 10 and 20 years?

SV: The Stern review highlighted the need for a collaboration of technology instead of searching for one sliver bullet. It is likely that a combination of technologies will allow us to address our future power needs.  It will take time.  In two years hopefully the market will have recovered and people will be more willing to back technologies that address climate change issues.  I would say that that sense of urgency will increase over the next 10 years so that in 20 year time fuel cells will be an integral park of everyday life.

DL: Tell us about your existing products and how you see their market developing in the years to come?

SV: Voller has a 1kW PEM fuel cell system called Emerald that runs from LPG or propane. The system uses the Ballard 1030 PEM fuel cell stack and a steam reforming system. The system provides up to 1kW DC power continuously and up to 5kW AC power via a battery bank and inverter. The Emerald system continuously monitors the user’s batteries and automatically recharges as needed.

In operation, Emerald is quiet and vibration free, has virtually no noxious emissions, requires no liquid lubricants and will require much less maintenance than diesel powered generators. In addition, the Emerald system is highly efficient and will produce up to 2kW of useable heat. Emerald delivers electrical efficiencies of 20-25% when running at full power with overall efficiencies of up to 60% in CHP mode. Conventional generators deliver effective efficiencies of 10% or even much less if poorly managed.

DL: Tell us about the Voller Fuel cell concept yacht.

SV: Fuel cells are a very attractive source of energy in sailing yachts because conventionally they use a noisy generator to charge the batteries on board. Fuel cells charge the batteries without noise, smells or vibration.
We have taken the lead to demonstrate to boat designers what is possible in the future. There is much wasted space on a yacht due to the large heavy engine and batteries. Their layout can be redesigned to better accommodate the fuel cell, providing a much more open design making them potentially much faster for racing.

DL: What is Voller's law and do you think it will stand the test of time?

SV: In a nutshell, ‘people will not pay to be green’. We know if low-emission products are cheaper and better than the conventional alternative people will buy them. No brainer. But consumers will neither pay a ‘green premium’ in most cases, nor accept a performance premium or put themselves out. Yes there are a few exceptions to the rule, but these eco-warriors generally have no money and there are very few of them. Many people advocate Government legislation to make people go green (for example the EU banning conventional light bulbs). But people have to want to be green.

For example, imagine that a new type of gasoline (petrol) was introduced that you could run in your car that produced lower emission out of the tale pipe. But this new fuel cost more per gallon (litre) and when you filled your car with it the acceleration wasn’t nearly as good. How many people would actually queue up at that pump ?

ENDS