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.

 

"This is not the silver bullet," he told CTV.ca from Vancouver. "But it is a key solution to help us be more responsible for global warming and climate change or at least meet our (international) obligations."

 

In essence, a fuel cell, which may be thought of working like a battery, converts fuel such as hydrogen and oxygen into water.

 

 

The process also produces electricity, but unlike a battery, fuel cells can be replenished and continue to work as long as they are supplied with fuel. Fuel sources can include clean energy sources such as natural gas, biofuels or even nuclear energy.

 

"The fuel cell is very promising in that sense. It can take any fuel that is available today and work to convert it into electricity and heat in a much more efficient manner -- with a low carbon footprint," Yogendran says.

 

Fuel cell technology is already in the market place on a limited basis, in some instances replacing battery packs used for forklifts in warehouses. They are also being used as backup power supplies for telecommunication towers.

 

But their potential is huge, says Yogendran.

 

"(Fuel cells) can replace everything we need power for," he says, noting the fact that they don't produce the harmful emissions associated with conventional gas-powered engines.

 

Local cluster sees global opportunities

 

The Vancouver-area cluster of fuel cell research companies and labs is responsible for about 70 per cent of the total number of Canadian jobs in the field today. The cluster, which is supported through funding, testing and research help by the National Research Council, allows local universities, home-grown businesses, and international companies to work co-operatively and strategically.

 

But what is now a "cluster" basically started with one company -- Ballard Power Systems -- back in the 1980s.

 

Today, Ballard, which is based in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, employs roughly 450 workers alone - and officials with the company say fuel cell technology is on the verge of a major breakthrough into the marketplace as its costs drop.

 

It's now working closely with Indian companies in an effort to take full advantage of that country's cellphone boom.

 

"The cellphone towers need power," says Paul Cass, Ballard's director of Material Handling, noting that India's power supply is notoriously unreliable.

 

It's not uncommon for major areas - even urban centres - to lose power for long stretches throughout the day. Fuel cells provide an excellent back up power source, says Cass, who sees a natural opportunity for Canadian companies.

 

"One hundred thousand wireless base stations go up in India each year," he says.

 

Cass, who worked in the mining and forestry sectors before joining Ballard in the 1990s, says it didn't take long for him to see the potential of fuel cells.

 

"I could see this was a real game changer ... the simplicity of a (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) fuel cell shows to me that there is an inherent value to really change the way we power the world," he told CTV.ca from Burnaby.

 

Ballard will get an opportunity to highlight its technology to the world - and potential international customers -- next year at the Olympics in Whistler. That's when the company will unveil a batch of 20 New Flyer Industries buses equipped with its fuel cell modules.

 

The demonstration buses will continue to be operated by BC Transit after the games and will be the largest fleet of fuel cell buses in the world.

 

But the potential of fuel cells is much greater, says Cass.

 

"In the last three years our revenues have gone up 62 per cent. Our product shipments have gone up by eight times of what it was three years ago ... Now, we're on a real commercial trajectory," he notes.

 

Yogendran says fuel cell technology could compete with current conventional technologies in the automotive sector by 2015.

 

He adds Canada is in a good position to take advantage of the new green technology, meaning more jobs as the Vancouver cluster grows.

 

"The market is global. ... Look at China and India, their power demand is going to be huge," he says. "We are essentially in a position to go after these markets."