Oil price rise as a turbo for fuel cells
July 17, 2018 of hydrogeite
wall street
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The price of oil has been steadily rising for some time now and is receiving further impetus. But what is detrimental or disadvantageous for one can be of benefit to the other: the higher the price of oil, the more capital is invested in alternatives as well as in research and development. In particular, "green hydrogen" and its transformation into electricity, heat and coldas well as a complementary CO 2 capture could experience such a turbo effect, after it took many years, until the world is finally finally recognizing its potential.
Global demand for black gold can not be met by fracking in the US alone. There, though, thanks to this new extraction method, a total of around 10 million barrels will be pulled out of the ground every day, but elsewhere, production rates are currently falling, such as the sanctions threats and the contract termination of US President Donald Trump against Iran.
But the world still needs almost 14 million tons of oil every day. Countries like China are picking up everything they can get. In particular, the increasing mobility provides for this massive increase in demand, since in the People's Republic alone more than 25 million new vehicles come on the roads.
Until a few years ago, large management consultancies assumed that much less money would be invested in battery technology than in electrolyser technology. According to a Boston Consulting study published a few years ago, over US $ 150 billion will be invested in R & D for electrolyzers worldwide in the coming decades, but only about US $ 70 billion in battery technology. This may not feel right - felt - because car manufacturers either themselves or Asian suppliers are investing heavily in battery technology. However, with rising energy prices - especially of crude oil - research for more efficient, more efficient electrolysers is now gaining considerable momentum.
As I also hear from well-informed circles from China, the People's Republic plans no change of direction in electric mobility, but plans a stronger focus on the fuel cell. If this happens, the auto industry will have to focus more on the fuel cell and follow companies like Toyota.
FuelCell Energy convinces
Meanwhile, FuelCell Energy is increasingly focusing on lobbying and trying to make it clear to politicians what potential exists in the fuel cell. In the US state of Connecticut, this has now been achieved: Here, the proportion of renewable energies by 2030 should be at 40 percent and get the fuel cell a much higher proportion. It will be interesting to see to what extent BZ power plants end up in the order books of FuelCell Energy - after all, it is about a volume (tenders) of US $ 1.6 billion - according to company information. The stock could thus become a high flyer, whereby one already holds larger capital resources on call (credit lines and convertible preference shares).
