Energy Crisis Will Fuel Fuel-Cell Industry, Study Says

Compiled ByDeborah Austin The fuel-cell industry will expand hugely during the current decade, in response to growing pressure for new energy sources, show recent findings from Allied Business Intelligence (ABI). Fuel-cell output will multiply by a factor of 250 -- with global stationary fuel-cell electricity-generating capacity leaping from 75 megawatts in 2001 to more than 15,000 megawatts by the year 2010 -- says ABI's report "Stationary Fuel Cells: U.S. and Global Early Market Opportunities." The U.S. market will take the early lead in this expansion, but Germany and Japan also will loom as giants in early deployment, says ABI. Pressure on fuel-cell companies will be greater than ever, however, due to Wall Street's attention on the industry and its ability to deliver units on time, says Atakan Ozbek, ABI director of energy research and author of the study. Allied Business Intelligence Inc., is an Oyster Bay, N.Y.-based technology research think tank.