Peter Brewer

Reading Passage

A. Some of the world’s greatest inventions have been discovered by accident. One such accident led to the discovery of the fuel cell and another led to its commercialisation. And in around 30 years, when most of the energy analysts have predicted the wells of oil will run dry, motorists will be thankful for both these strange twists of fate. Why? Simply because without the fuel cell to replace the combustion engine, private motoring as we all know it would be restricted to only those who could afford the high price.

B. The exact date of the discovery of the fuel cell is not known, but historians agree it most likely occurred around 1838 in the laboratories of British physicist Sir William Grove, who had been studying electrolysis. Grove knew that in a simple electrolytic cell hydrogen and oxygen are produced when an electric current passes through water via a platinum wire. One day he reversed the process. As recorded in Powering the Future, Grove realised that just as we can use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, we should be able to generate electricity by combining these two gases.

C. The principle behind the fuel cell is simple. Hydrogen and oxygen, two of the most common elements in the world, are a very explosive combination. But separate them with a sophisticated platinum-coated barrier and an electrochemical reaction takes place, in which positively charged hydrogen ions react with oxygen and leave the hydrogen electrons behind. This action produces an excess of electrons on one side of the barrier and a deficit on the other. It is this difference that creates electrical energy.

D. The early development of the fuel cell was fraught with problems and high cost. But by 1954 US giant General Electric had produced a prototype that proved sufficiently effective to interest NASA. The Gemini space programme demonstrated the viability of the fuel cell to provide electrical power. The spacecraft used six stacks of cells with three cells in each stack. The electrical output from each stack was modest—about one kilowatt—and, as a by-product, the system produced half a litre of water for each kilowatt-hour of operation. However, the Gemini cells were complex and required careful maintenance.

E. At this time, if anyone had suggested to Canadian scientist Geoffrey Ballard that he would devote his career to fuel-cell technology, he would have laughed. Ballard’s scientific background was actually geophysics, but during the oil crisis of 1973 the US government asked the Canadian to explore alternative forms of energy. Ballard threw himself into the project enthusiastically but soon became disillusioned by the short-termism of politics. Energy systems take a long time to develop, Ballard said. The short-term vision of politicians, who wanted to fund projects that could deliver quick results before re-election, was frustrating for scientists. Since the US government lacked the vision for the job, he decided to seek funding himself.

F. The big breakthrough on Ballard’s fuel cell came by accident in the search for cheaper materials. Up until late 1986, Ballard’s team had worked with only one type of fuel-cell membrane manufactured by DuPont, but Dow Chemical had also developed a similar membrane which had not been released for sale. Ballard’s team tracked down an experimental sample of the Dow material, put it into a fuel cell and set up a standard test. Within a few minutes the cell was generating so much electricity on the test bench that it melted through the power-output cable.

G. Ballard immediately knew he had a saleable product. The problem was: should he aim his fuel cell at small markets like military field generators, wheelchairs and golf carts, or try to sell it as a full-blown alternative to the combustion engine? “It was so needed and the world was ready for it,” Ballard said. “Los Angeles is dying; Vancouver is going to be eaten alive by its own pollution very shortly. It seemed like a time to go for broke.” Ballard Power Systems first built a small bus to demonstrate the technology, and then an even bigger bus.

H. As a result a number of multinational motor manufacturers, such as General Motors, Mitsubishi and Daimler-Benz, tested Ballard’s cells. Finally, Daimler formed an alliance with Ballard that yielded some impressive prototypes, including a fully driveable fuel-cell-powered A-Class Mercedes-Benz compact car, known as NECAR 4. DaimlerChrysler, as the merged Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation is now known, says the fuel cell represents the future of automotive transport. “The significance of this technological advancement—the fuel cell—is comparable to the impact the microchip had on computer technology when it replaced the transistor,” said Dr Ferdinand Panik, head of DaimlerChrysler’s fuel-cell development team.