RenewableEnergyStocks.com and FuelCellCarNews.com
February 2005

At the recent Vancouver Investment Conference (VIC), Astris announced the launch of their E7 fuel cell powered golf car. The E7 fuel cell generator that is based on Astris’ alkaline fuel cell ( AFC ) technology is a modular fuel cell solution that is designed as a replacement for existing lead-acid battery packs used in applications such as golf cars, forklifts and other specialty mobile applications. The golf car is an excellent platform with which to demonstrate the function and added utility gained by replacing the battery with a fuel cell system. "Our near term focus is on the backup power generator market and specialty mobile applications," said Anthony Durkacz, vice president of finance with Astris. "Development of a golf car powered by our fuel cell, demonstrates that our unique technology has a wide range of applications and provides better utility than existing technologies."  

Three years ago Astris built the world's first alkaline fuel cell golf car fuelled by hydrogen. At the VIC the company launched their second generation product. "We have made considerable improvements in the technology and developed a fuel cell engine, or generator, that more than doubled the power of the original," said Durkacz. Astris' next step will be to secure a strategic commercial partner who has experience in taking an advanced prototype and commercializing that product.  

"Our technology is ready," said Durkacz. "We are showcasing a technology that has tremendous advantages; is simple in design, has a low cost of materials, and will be cost effective to purchase and operate. We compare very favourably to other low temperature fuel cells which are typically more complicated and contain considerably more expensive materials."  

The E7 fuel cell is powered by industrial grade hydrogen, tanks of which can be purchased from local gas suppliers. "The E7 does not require the purest hydrogen, unlike many other low-temperature fuel cells, which tend to require the purest grades," said Durkacz. "There are very few places where hydrogen is not available today and we expect that you will be able to have hydrogen delivered to your home or business, just like propane tanks are delivered today. The fuel cell can be thought of as a battery with a fuel tank. As long as fuel is in the tank the fuel cell can use it to produce electricity. When hydrogen is delivered to the fuel cell it reacts with the oxygen in the air and electricity is produced very efficiently. By-products of the reaction in the fuel cell are water and heat.”

Photo from the conference:

Left to right: Betty Lin, Donald Yates, William McLaughlin, Greg MacPherson, Anthony Durkacz, Kyle Schlosser.

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