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A new report from the DOE takes a close look at the growing fuel cell
industry. The 2012 Fuel Cell Technologies Market Report, published
in October 2013, explores the major markets for this technology and pres-
ents a promising outlook. Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that com-
bine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, water, and heat. Yet
unlike batteries, they continuously generate electricity as long as a source
of fuel is supplied. Fuel cells do not burn fuel, making the process quiet,
pollution-free, and up to three times more efficient than combustion.
Three main
markets exist—
stationary power,
t r anspor t at i on
power, and port-
able power. Sta-
tionary power in-
cludes any appli-
cation in which
the fuel cells are
operated at a fixed
location for pri-
mary power, back-
up power, or com-
bined heat and
power. Transportation applications include passenger cars, buses, and
other fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), specialty vehicles, material han-
dling equipment (e.g., forklifts), and auxiliary power units for off-road ve-
hicles. Portable power applications use fuel cells that are not permanently
installed or fuel cells in a portable device.
According to the report, industry trends were encouraging in 2012:
Total fuel cell shipments increased in terms of both units and megawatts
while costs continued to decline, especially for light duty vehicle applica-
tions. For example, the DOE notes that the cost per kilowatt for high vol-
ume production of transportation fuel cells moved closer to its target of
$30 per kW.
In addition, government policies continue to favor light duty vehicles.
The Obama Administration doubled the fuel economy standard in the
U.S., California enacted the Advanced Clean Cars Program, and the U.S.,
Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Japan, and other countries in-
creased efforts to deploy hydrogen fueling infrastructure. There were also
several collaboration announcements between automakers regarding
FCEVs, including Toyota and BMW’s long-term strategic collaboration
to jointly develop a fuel cell system, and Daimler, Ford, and Nissan join-
ing forces to jointly develop a common fuel cell system and launch com-
mercial FCEVs as early as 2017.
The report was a collaborative effort by staff of the Breakthrough
Technologies Institute Inc., Washington, and funded through Argonne
National Laboratory by the DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office. For more
information, visit www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/
2012_market_report.pdf.
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES • MARCH 2014 4
spot l ight feedback
market
DOE report indicates
promising future for fuel cells
The beauty of boron
I recently read the article regarding
boron on ASM’s Facebook page and
found it very interesting. Apparently it
was not reviewed by a metallurgist be-
cause I did not see any reference to the
importance of boron in metals. Here are
just a couple: Boron is critical for high
temperature ductility and strength in
nickel-base superalloys, i.e., one could
not fly in a jet plane without boron. With
regard to steels, ships could not operate
in the cold of winter without boron. Re-
member why the Titanic sank?
Don Muzyka
Asking the right questions
Regarding the January letter “Put ma-
terials specification where it belongs,” the
whole world is like this: People ask ques-
tions of the wrong people because they
think that is what they know. Yet when
you finally know to ask the right question
to the right person, you are one step
away from arriving at the answer. On an-
other note, I really enjoyed the “Science
and Selfies” editorial. I hadn’t heard
about either the NASA vs. NSA news
item, nor the Boeing vs. Airbus story.
Roy Salkus
Metallurgy Lane fan club
I greatly enjoyed the first article in the
new series on metallurgy history. (“Iron in
America,” January issue). The piece
mentions a number of the original iron
processing plants and indicates that sev-
eral of these are either historical sites or
may be preserved or restored. Is there a
source that could tell me where these
sites are? We are planning a summer trip
and would enjoy visiting some of these.
Lois and Jim Rawers
[A single reference does not exist, but
one good source is the National Park
Service at www.nps.gov/sair; use Google
for other sites listed here. The earliest
and best restored iron plant in the U.S. is
Saugus Iron Works* just north of Boston.
Other sites showcasing iron making his-
tory include Lackawanna Iron and Steel
in Scranton, Pa., Cornwall Iron Furnace*
in Cornwall, Pa., Cambria Iron Works in
Johnstown, Pa., Burden Iron Works* in
Troy, N.Y., and Joliet Iron Works in Joliet,
Ill.—Charles R. Simcoe]
*ASM Historical Landmarks.
See more at
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and suggestions. Send letters to
.
Systems shipped
Fuel Cell Systems Shipped
By application, World markets 2008-2012
Stationary
Transportation
Portable
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: Navigant Research; DOE’s 2012 Fuel Cell Technologies Market Report.
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000