Vancouver poised to lead world in fuel cell technology

[Francis2004]

Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields.. Again we lead in one Technology field that will be Green.. Can we make the best of it or will we do the usual and sell off the best of what we have created?

As governments and companies around the world race to find a solution to an emerging international energy crisis, a cluster of companies located in Greater Vancouver may hold a vital key to combating climate change.



They may also be poised to take advantage of what some see as the emergence of an international green economy, tapping into an international market with a voracious need for clean energy.


Yoga Yogendran of the National Research Council's Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation says the cluster of Vancouver-area companies have been conducting cutting edge research into hydrogen fuel cells for years, a technology he says may significantly lower greenhouse gases around the world -- and help fuel everything from electric power plants to cars to portable music devices.

CTV.ca | Vancouver poised to lead world in fuel cell technology

 

[#juan]

Hydrogen fuel cells have been around for years. There are a number of problems that will keep hydrogen fuel cells from the be all, end all status that has been promised for years. The first problems are their extremely high cost and the lack of an hydrogen infrastructure. Another is their reliance on a limited supply of a rare metal, Platinum, that is the absolute heart of the fuel cell. By the time you have separated hydrogen from natural gas or water, and burned the hydrogen in the fuel cell, the total efficiency has dropped to the point where it is more efficient to just use a battery. The fuel cell powered car(that I was hoping for) is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. There are uses for fuel cells but they probably won't involve cars.

 

[Francis2004]

Hydrogen fuel cells have been around for years. There are a number of problems that will keep hydrogen fuel cells from the be all, end all status that has been promised for years. The first problems are their extremely high cost and the lack of an hydrogen infrastructure. Another is their reliance on a limited supply of a rare metal, Platinum, that is the absolute heart of the fuel cell. By the time you have separated hydrogen from natural gas or water, and burned the hydrogen in the fuel cell, the total efficiency has dropped to the point where it is more efficient to just use a battery. The fuel cell powered car(that I was hoping for) is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. There are uses for fuel cells but they probably won't involve cars.

While advancements in Hydrogen Fuels cell has been slow it has been proven in City buses. They have tested them in Cities such as Detroit and Chicago as well as limited use in Vancouver. The Depots are great storage facilities for re-feuling stations for these units and have proved successful.

Ballard will be building 12 ( I believe ) of these buses for the 2010 Olympics to show off. The more use and more production there is the more trend there will be to build stations for these vehicles and others.

The plan is to move forward in use of Hydrogen to more conventional power uses. Of course the more use and the more requirement for Hydrogen, the more it will develop faster. If it can be the fuel of Rockets for space, it can be the fuel of the future..

 

[petros]

Ballard is fund raising again I see.

 

[RanchHand]

Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields.. Again we lead in one Technology field that will be Green.. Can we make the best of it or will we do the usual and sell off the best of what we have created?



CTV.ca | Vancouver poised to lead world in fuel cell technology

"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields"

Could you name a few of the many technology fields please?

 

[petros]

"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields"

Could you name a few of the many technology fields please?

I can. Can't you?

 

[Francis2004]

"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields"

Could you name a few of the many technology fields please?

Canada leads the world in nuclear science
www.cna.ca/english/pdf/Articles/canadaleadsworld.pdf

Canada leads globe in broadband access
Canada leads globe in broadband access, not speed > Carriers and Service Providers


Canada leads world in astronomical discoveries
Canada leads world in astronomical discoveries

Ok so I have done my part..

Canadian companies in Varied other field ( medical, natural resource extraction, cell phone technology ) have been at the front of technology for years. Many of them purchased by US firms. Just look for yourself and stop expecting others to answer questions for you..

 

[RanchHand]

Your nuclear science link doesn't work.
Your broadband access penetration is done using American hardware and American software. If the OS is windows or UNIX, it was created by Americans. If your database is Oracle or SQL Server it was created by Americans. The development software used to create the applications you use was created by Americans. Your laser printers were created by Americans. Your mouse was created by Americans. Your claim to fame of being a heavy user of broadband Internet access will be eclipsed by Americans soon as billions of the stimulus bill are meant to further development of broadband access in the US. Further, the bulk of your populations of 30 million joyless Canadians live within 50 miles of the US boarder. The 350 million Americans are spread throughout the country, making broadband access a bit more difficult than in Canada at the moment.

Did Canada play any role in the development of the current Hubble? Your link says Canada will be helpers in some capacity in America's replacement for Hubble. Big freaken' deal. Ever launched a satellite? How many times has your country put men on the moon? Where are your space ports. What do you have that compares to our Goddard Space Flight Center? What is the Canadian equivalent of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, etc, etc, etc, etc?
Canada has won 17 Nobel prizes. The United States has won 309.
Your claim is absurd.

 

[Kreskin]

Your nuclear science link doesn't work.
Your broadband access penetration is done using American hardware and American software. If the OS is windows or UNIX, it was created by Americans. If your database is Oracle or SQL Server it was created by Americans. The development software used to create the applications you use was created by Americans. Your laser printers were created by Americans. Your mouse was created by Americans. Your claim to fame of being a heavy user of broadband Internet access will be eclipsed by Americans soon as billions of the stimulus bill are meant to further development of broadband access in the US. Further, the bulk of your populations of 30 million joyless Canadians live within 50 miles of the US boarder. The 350 million Americans are spread throughout the country, making broadband access a bit more difficult than in Canada at the moment.

Did Canada play any role in the development of the current Hubble? Your link says Canada will be helpers in some capacity in America's replacement for Hubble. Big freaken' deal. Ever launched a satellite? How many times has your country put men on the moon? Where are your space ports. What do you have that compares to our Goddard Space Flight Center? What is the Canadian equivalent of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, etc, etc, etc, etc?
Canada has won 17 Nobel prizes. The United States has won 309.
Your claim is absurd.

That was a nice golf game on the moon.

 

[#juan]

Ranchhand, you should have stayed on the ranch. The following is a small part of Canada's contribution to your space program.. We didn't have a Moon mission project of our own because frankly, we couldn't afford it. If you think we are not capable, you are full sh-t.

National Research Council Canada's engineer George Klein invented the Storable Tubular Extendable Member (or STEM, for short). It has been used on most of the early and current manned and unmanned space missions.

National Research Council Canada's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory is designing and building a highly specialized supercomputer to upgrade and improve the world's largest radio telescope that is located in the USA.

National Research Council Canada's scientists invented and developed the Canadarm and the Space Vision System that is has been used on NASA space shuttle missions and the International Space Station

Canadian engineer Eugene Maynard, working for NASA in the USA, is considered to be the person at NASA most responsible for the design of the lunar module. The lunar module was the spacecraft that landed astronauts on the moon for all Apollo missions. It is also the spacecraft that allowed the Apollo 13 crew to remain alive and return safely after the explosion that forced them to cancel a landing on the moon.

Canadian research engineer Jim Chamberlin worked for Avro and was assigned to NASA in the USA. He became head of engineering for Project Mercury, the first American manned spacecraft. He not only helped build Mercury capsules, he also helped solve problems encountered during space flights. He was responsible for selecting the moon orbit approach for the Apollo missions rather than the expected direct flight from earth approach. He also helped to solve problems with the Apollo command and service modules.

 

[#juan]

There are currently 18 nuclear reactors running in Canada, These reactors are all CANDU type reactors on which the fuel rods can be replaced while the reactor is running. Rather a unique feature. Candu reactors are also very reliable.

 

[#juan]

Ranchhand...Where did you go?

 

[Francis2004]

Your nuclear science link doesn't work.

A simple look at the link would have show the error..

http://www.cna.ca/english/pdf/Articles/canadaleadsworld.pdf

 

[RanchHand]

I took issue with this statement:
"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields"

For that I was given some anecdotal items, told to go look up the many technology fields myself, told to go home, and bitched at because I wouldn't take the time to fix your errors in links you provided.
It's a ridiculous statement that can't be substantiated in any way and it's origins can be traced to your national trait of inferiority vis-a-vis the USA and your need to make yourselves feel good. As far as leading the world in fuel cell technology, wouldn't it help if you have had an automotive industry or a computer industry or a space technology industry or world class research facilities or a military budget, with an enormous amount directed towards research that is larger than the rest of the world combined as opposed to some dope smoking 'clusters' in the greater Vancouver area? You people live in a fantasy land of your own self importance and have all your hissy fits when you bump up against reality.

 

[#juan]

My goodness, another paranoid, RanchHand rant. You will notice that the statement,"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields", does not say Canada is the biggest or the best in these fields, but that Canadians are doing cutting edge research in a lot of different technologies.

Do we really need an automotive industry like you have? Seems to me you just bailed them out with hundreds of billions of dollars because they are either incompetent, dishonest, or just stupid.

I wonder why it is that Americans traveling abroad paste Canadian flags on their luggage. Could it be you don't want to take flak for the idiotic foreign policies of your government?

Cheers

 

[Tyr]

Ballard is fund raising again I see.

It's there 30th yr anniversary. Great at raising cash. Actually producing something that is commerially viable is another story

 

[Tyr]

I took issue with this statement:
"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields"

For that I was given some anecdotal items, told to go look up the many technology fields myself, told to go home, and bitched at because I wouldn't take the time to fix your errors in links you provided.
It's a ridiculous statement that can't be substantiated in any way and it's origins can be traced to your national trait of inferiority vis-a-vis the USA and your need to make yourselves feel good. As far as leading the world in fuel cell technology, wouldn't it help if you have had an automotive industry or a computer industry or a space technology industry or world class research facilities or a military budget, with an enormous amount directed towards research that is larger than the rest of the world combined as opposed to some dope smoking 'clusters' in the greater Vancouver area? You people live in a fantasy land of your own self importance and have all your hissy fits when you bump up against reality.

things a little slow in Backwater Georgia or just a bad plate of grits this morning?

 

[RanchHand]

My goodness, another paranoid, RanchHand rant. You will notice that the statement,"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields", does not say Canada is the biggest or the best in these fields, but that Canadians are doing cutting edge research in a lot of different technologies.

Do we really need an automotive industry like you have? Seems to me you just bailed them out with hundreds of billions of dollars because they are either incompetent, dishonest, or just stupid.

I wonder why it is that Americans traveling abroad paste Canadian flags on their luggage. Could it be you don't want to take flak for the idiotic foreign policies of your government?

Cheers

,"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields", does not say Canada is the biggest or the best in these fields"

So Canada is not the biggest and not the best. But by what stretch of the imagination makes you think you are "a leader"? The citizens of Kazakhstan think they are a leader too. What country doesn't like to think they are "a leader".

"Do we really need an automotive industry like you have?"

Note that I said "have had an automotive industry". What we have now is kaput. But you Canadians seem willing to work for them all the while bad mouthing them and the USA. Note also that my point was that the automotive industry, which you were unable to develop, has probably already spent billions in research in fuel cells.

"Americans traveling abroad paste Canadian flags on their luggage".

A completely, 100% anticipated Canadian response when asked to provide examples of the topic of the thread, that Canada is a leader in many technology fields.

 

[karrie]

I took issue with this statement:
"Canada has always been a leader in many technology fields"

For that I was given some anecdotal items, told to go look up the many technology fields myself, told to go home, and bitched at because I wouldn't take the time to fix your errors in links you provided.
It's a ridiculous statement that can't be substantiated in any way and it's origins can be traced to your national trait of inferiority vis-a-vis the USA and your need to make yourselves feel good. As far as leading the world in fuel cell technology, wouldn't it help if you have had an automotive industry or a computer industry or a space technology industry or world class research facilities or a military budget, with an enormous amount directed towards research that is larger than the rest of the world combined as opposed to some dope smoking 'clusters' in the greater Vancouver area? You people live in a fantasy land of your own self importance and have all your hissy fits when you bump up against reality.

Why would having a huge industry be necessary when one can simply focus on developing superior technology and selling it? Canada's always done well for itself that way. Bigger isn't always better.

 

[EagleSmack]

I wonder why it is that Americans traveling abroad paste Canadian flags on their luggage. Could it be you don't want to take flak for the idiotic foreign policies of your government?

They don't. This is a myth made by Canadians, for Canadians, to make Canadians feel good about themselves.

The only people who really paste Canadian flags on every travel item are Canadians. The funny thing it is not because of pride of being Canadian it is because they want to differentiate themselves from Americans! :lol:

Even funnier is that Canadians have spread this myth around so much that Europeans when upon seeing a Canadian patch on luggage think they are Americans faking to be Canadian when in fact they really are Canadian! :lol: :lol: