An extremely cautious press release today from ITM Power about an exciting subject - fuel cells for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs;

ITM has signed an agreement with Boeing Research & Technology Europe S.L. to prepare a Preliminary Design of an Environmentally Friendly Refuelling Station for Fuel Cell Powered Unmanned Air Vehicles.Jim Heathcote, CEO ITM Power, said:

"We are pleased to be working with Boeing and believe this is an interesting agreement for both parties. At the moment, this does not imply a commercial tie-up, does not guarantee any on-going commercial relationship and is a small financial transaction, but it does represent early stage commercial revenues for ITM."

The application for UAVs so far has been almost entirely military or for general security and observation purposes. They are still small and it is highly unlikely that the largest UAVs like the Predator, let alone the Global Hawk will use anything but jet fuel for some time to come. Yet it is the micro UAVs - under 5 kilos in weight - and the class just above it have great potential for fuel cells.

If you're in any doubt about this, next time you see a remote-controlled plane, notice how noisy the little engine is. Hence the case for a fuel cell.

ITM and Boeing will be facing quite a few competitors - not least this record breaking micro fuel cell UAV here which recently completed a record flight of 178 miles and with a fuel cell power density of over 480 watt hours per kilo;



listen to how quiet it is !

What a shame !

A couple of weeks after stealing the limelight at the Tokyo Motor Show, with an announcement of the 2008 release of its FCX car, Honda is now putting the FCX into reverse. Far from being a global-wide release, only people living in the Torrance, Santa Monica, and Irvine areas of southern California will be able to buy one, as these are the only places that the Clarity can be easily refuelled and serviced. In other words, very competitive price apart, the FCX looks as if it may join the long list of alternative energy cars with plenty of hype and very little take up - exhibit A of course would be GM's electric car.

The other bit that makes me wonder is Honda's Home Energy Station - is this not over-engineering?



You'll notice that they have developed this in association with Plug Power , a stock which has been enjoying a good recovery since September. Wouldn't it be much cheaper to set up a home electrolysis kit, powered by (at least in the UK and USA) either overnight Hydro or Nuclear from the mains, fuelled by some distilled water?

Anyway, Plug Power have also partnered with another big friend, to commercialize an on-vehicle hydrogen production system for use in a fuel cell-powered lift truck application. This differs from the Home Energy System by taking liquid fuels such " . . . as gasoline, diesel, ethanol or biodiesel and convert them into hydrogen onboard the vehicle where it will be used in a fuel cell power train". Apparently, " . . . this has the potential to be up to 80% more fuel efficient than today's internal combustion engine technologies and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 45%".

That really does sound quite promising. And one can't get too down about the availability of the FCX; progress is anything but a straight line heading upwards. There will always be setbacks and disappointments on the road to commercial success.

STOP THE PRESS - the industry's champion of the fuel cell vehicle WANTS OUT !

According to the Detroit Free Press, Ballard is in talks with Daimler and Ford to sell their long-struggling fuel cell unit. A major reason cited is ". . .the lengthy projected timeline to commercialization and high cost of development".

It's all such a long way from the breathless optimism of the late 1990s, which culminated in the publication of this book Powering the Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World. Whatever race Ballard thought they were in, it looks like they lost some time ago. It speaks volumes as well that just after Honda announces the world's first industrial production run for a fuel cell vehicle, the FCX, Ballard is throwing in the towel. Meanwhile, Ford, which owns an 11.2% stake in Ballard, is in the third year of a test that has put 30 hydrogen fuel cell-powered Focus cars on the road. And apparently, Daimler, which owns an 18.7% stake in Ballard, reportedly intends to mass produce fuel cell vehicles by 2012 to 2015. Even GM, probably the weakest of the big three, aims to develop a cost-competitive hydrogen fuel cell vehicle by 2010.



Some of the early FCX test vehicles were powered by Ballard's Mark902 fuel cell stack, pictured here.

The jury's out on the FCX until we see it on the roads. But I suspect that the main culprits for the demise  of the  fuel cell  making it  into our driveways since Ballard entered the scene, are the unanticipated  success and relatively low cost of hybrids like the Prius, major advances in electrical batteries and above all, big auto firms biting off more than they could chew in trying to completely replace the internal combustion engine - over 100 years in development and still going very strong.

Still, in toiling so long on fuel cell development, Ballard can point to having done a lot of the hard work for everyone else.