Ballard Power Systems gains strong partner in Daimler as Germans look to Fuel Cell technology!

Daimler announced this week a partnership in the development of fuel cell technology which includes the grandaddy of that industry, Ballard Power Systems of Burnaby, British Columbia. Ballard (BLD-T)(BLDP-OTC) has, since the 1980s, been quietly developing its PEM fuel cell technology.

Several years ago, (2009) I posted an article entitled, the future of energy, where I laid out the probability of Fuel Cell stacks such as Ballards stacking technology, being developed to the point where they will easily power buses, fork lifts, ships, trains, small towns, and eventually big cities. In the beginning, many pundits speculated on the development of pure hydrogen fuel cell cars.  Eventually those same people began to discount what they called the hydrogen economy, saying that fuel cell cars probably would not ever replace the internal combustion engine.

Since then, there have been inumerable articles and arguments both con and pro, fuel cell investments. Ballard, (and a number of other fuel cell companies nicknamed baby Ballards, such as Plug Power) saw their share prices subsequently wane as investors grew weary of the argument.  Ballard, having partnered earlier with auto makers such as Ford and Chrysler, basically sold off their auto technology to those entities. They concentrated on larger vehicles such as buses, and most recently, the fork lift industry.

Where I believe Ballard really shines is in their fuel cell stacking technology which last year, allowed them to supply a small town in Ohio with a fuel cell power plant as a factory size test of such technology. (see: Worlds largest fuel cell power generations system being tested in Ohio)

Think of towns and cities of the future being powered entirely by hydrogen fel cells, with absolutely no pollution as the only byproduct of the technology is pure water (H2O).  How about cruise ships, tankers, industries and buildings being powered in the same way.  Ballard recently contracted with India to supply over 10,000 smaller stacking units for their growing wireless industry in that country.

Ballard now has fuel cell buses being tested in London, California, Vancouver and Amsterdam.  They are now building fuel cell fork lifts and plan on supplying that market, anywhere in the world where clean energy is a must.  Now, Daimler has announced that it will power its fuel cell fleet with Ballard technology.

This technology, especially its use in stacking up to power plants capable of powering entire populations, just makes sense. Couple hydrogen fuel cell plant power with the emergence of the electric vehicle industry (our investments in lithium production) and, I believe, you will have a big winner, especially in places like China and India. Here in North America natural gas is very abundant with new fracking technologies allowing for an untapped bonanza of natural gas energy capable of powering us for 200 years.

As it turns out, natural gas is a great feed source for hydrogen. In other words, Fuel cells can easily run on natural gas!

Happy investing.

HP

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Worlds largest fuel cell generation system being tested in Ohio!

Image via Wikipedia

Retirefund News:  
World's Largest Hydrogen Fuel Cell Generator

Companies Mentioned: BLD, BLDP

Ballard Power Systems goes BIG!

It's the size of a tractor trailer, it's on wheels and completely transportable, with the capacity to power a small town. And now the world's largest hydrogen fuel cell - one of the world's cleanest and greenest sources of energy - will soon be on its way from Burnaby, B.C., to Eastlake, Ohio for a five year trial run - the first ever deployment of its kind.

 Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) today announced the successful completion, during second quarter, of factory testing of a utility-scale distributed generation system using the company's proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Installation and commissioning of the system for a multi-year demonstration at FirstEnergy Generation Corp's Eastlake Plant in Ohio is planned for third quarter of this year. FirstEnergy Generation Corp. is a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE).
Ballard designed the generator to provide clean energy peaking capacity, which is particularly useful during heavy energy demand periods in the summer months, and tested the generator to a power level of one megawatt. Because fuel cells use hydrogen to produce electricity - with heat and water as by-products - this technology is a more environmentally-friendly means of generating power than diesel or coal alternatives. In addition, the Ballard generator is transportable so it can be relocated to other sites on a seasonal basis.
"We are pleased to have passed this key customer milestone," said Michael Goldstein, Ballard's Chief Commercial Officer. "Once commissioned, this will be an important 'first' for us, meeting a key 2010 Ballard growth milestone and further demonstrating the benefits of fuel cell systems for clean distributed generation applications in the energy sector."

It is believed that, when the generator is commissioned and operating at the FirstEnergy Generation Corp. facility, it will be the largest PEM fuel cell generator deployed worldwide. 

This information follows on the heels of Plug Powers announcement to extend it's partnership with Ballard Power through 2014. Ballard will exclusively supply fuel cell stacks for Plug Power's full suite of GenDrive™ power units. In addition, Plug Power will become the exclusive systems integrator for Ballard’s fuel cell stack into solutions addressing the material handling market in North America. (fork lifts etc.) Ballard is supplying 10,000 generators to India for their wireless power generation system, and has partners in europe developing fuel cell generation in Scandinavia.


Ballard has also partnered with the U.S. military to build low heat, low noise generators, a must for defense dept.







About Ballard Power Systems
Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) provides clean energy fuel cell products enabling optimized power systems for a range of applications. To learn more about Ballard, please visit www.ballard.com.
CONTACT: Investor Relations: Lori Rozali, Work: +1.604.412.3195, investors@ballard.com; Public Relations: Guy McAree, Work: +1.604.412.7919, media@ballard.com 

Ballard to supply quiet, low heat generators to U.S. Military

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Hold on to your Loonies!

Last year we told you to "hold on to your Loonies" as the Canada buck was trading around .77 usd at the time. Needless to say, we told you so! This week both the National Post and RBC are telling you the same thing, forecasting that by the end of the second quarter, the Loonie will trade "above" the U.S. dollar.

There has even been a spike in put options of late which allow the buyers to sell Aussie dollars for the Canada buck (Loonie). As the world searches for more places to "stash their cash", Canada has been at the forefront. The soundest banking system on the planet (Four of the five major banks just reported profits above analysts expectations) coupled with many natural resources, makes Canada a good bet for foreign investors and with the latest Canadian budget, that outlook brightens further, as the Canadian Government has done away with restrictive bureaucracy that kept, especially, American V/C firms from investing in Canada. With those restrictions gone, more capital is looking to Canada for safety as well as innovation in energy, bio tech, mobile web technology and numerous other businesses.

Canada projects (and so do many economists around the world) that it will be first mature economy to emerge from deficit spending. As the largest supplier of oil to the United States, and with an abundance of Natural Gas, hydro power and recently wind power, Canada is well positioned in the energy sector, with the largest consumer of energy right next door.

Add to that the fact that Canada holds over 20% of the worlds fresh water supply while it's citizens make up only .03% of the worlds population, and the outlook becomes brighter still.
Oh yes, have I mentioned Canada is the #2 suppler of diamonds to the world, (the #1 supplier of "non-blood" diamonds) and is in the top 3 % of suppliers of Potash, gold, copper, nickel, uranium, platinum, etc. It's known reserves of natural gas is second only to the United States at present, but will probably take the number one spot as exploration ramps up for shale gas.

Even manufacturing is flying in Canada as Bombardier of Montreal takes on the Giants of Aerospace, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, at least in the regional jet space, while it's rail car division signs more new contracts in Europe and Asia for high speed rail in the $Billions. Ballard Power Systems, the granddaddy of fuel cell technology is signing contracts in Europe and especially India to supply those areas with clean tech portable power for their mobile web expansion. Ottawa based Wilan Technologies has signed 212 licenses for it's mobile web technology and on March 11th, it stands to reap even more rewards from it's patents as Apple and 18 other tech giants face a Markham hearing in a Texas court to determine how much they have infringed on Wilan's patents.

Magna International, Inc. is an Ontario, Canada based company, which produces a massive amount of auto parts for many players in the auto industry. It also has a new division, Magna E-Car Systems, that provides integration of components and systems, as well as the development and production of innovative complete-vehicle solutions, from engineering to turnkey systems, for all hybrid and electric vehicle programs around the world. Magna also manufactures other automotive systems, assemblies, modules, and products.

Encana is a major natural gas supplier, with huge investments in shale gas from Texas to New York, from Vancouver to Nova Scotia besides it's already extensive regular natural gas projects. Encana recently split into two entities, leaving most of it's oil business to a new company Cenovus a now lean oil player based in Calgary Alberta. As two separate entities since November 2009, these two companies figure to factor in to the North American energy market in a big way over the next decade.

TD Bank, Canada's second largest bank, is expanding into the U.S. market at a time when many U.S. banks are ripe for the taking, and it expects that it's U.S. arm may outpace it's Canadian system of 2,000 branches in the not too distant future. Currently, without that growth, it already stands at North America's 7th largest bank by capitalization.

In 9 out of the last 10 years, Canada has not only been in "the black" but has actually paid down debt in each of those years, while the rest of the G20 sank deeper. Even with this years deficit, caused by international events rather than domestic, Canada's "per capita" debt is less than half that of America.

The Loonie is outshining the usd for good reason. Natural Resources, Natural Gas, Oil, Aerospace, mobile web technology, Clean Tech, energy, auto, bio science and banking are only some of the strengths of the "True North strong and free", so as we said before, hold on to your Loonies, and reap the rewards of years of restraint and good management. Canada's investment landscape is becoming a lot less boring, and a lot more profitable.

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Ballard Power Systems is on a roll (excuse the pun)

Image via Wikipedia

(Updated March 25th 2010)
We have been high on Ballard Power Systems for awhile now. Today Ballard was added to the new, clean Tech Index on the TSX, and the spike in the stock price (and the high trading volume) is a direct result of that. If you act quickly, you may be able to get in on the upside of this trade.
(Also added to that index was another of our clean tech stocks, Azure dynamics.)
Ballard, situated in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, is the grand daddy of the fuel cell industry. It's founder is considered the father of the hydrogen fuel cell industry and the company has spawned other companies known as "Baby Ballards" like plug power. It has for the past 20 years, been on the driving edge of the green energy revolution.
Ballard has produced working hydrogen fuel cell buses for several cities (Chicago and LA are two) and recently delivered a fleet of 20, brand new, hydrogen fuel cell buses to the Vancouver transit authority. Those buses shuttled athletes and fans by the thousands to the winter Olympic Games in Whistler. The International press also got to ride these buses.
At a time when the world is looking for green energy solutions, and the world press is falling over themselves for stories to run about this part of Canada, Ballard Power Systems showcased to the world a bus that runs on pure hydrogen. You can drink the water from it's tailpipe because that is the only by product of their fuel cells, pure H2O. No doubt, every politician interviewed will mention it and want to be seen standing beside those buses.
Ballard is expanding it's reach into Europe and India as they partner with European companies to supply fuel cells on the continent and they recently signed an agreement with India to supply 10,000 fuel cell powered back-up units for the Indian telecommunications industry for their wireless infrastructure which is ramping up.
No doubt the international reporters will also comment on the fuel cell forklifts Ballard is now supplying to companies from Chicago to Shanghai, and the possibility of stacking their fuel cells to power trucks, ships and to build giant, utility grade generators to power cities. More buses were delivered this week to California, London and Amsterdam.
On March 17th 2010, Ballard CEO, John Sheridan, will present at the 9th, Jefferies Global Clean Tech Conference in New York City.

If you like green energy investments then you cannot discount this first mover in the fuel cell space, especially this year, as it ramps up and finally become profitable.
Disclaimer: We have owned Ballard Power Systems ( BLD-TSE) (BLDP-Nasdaq) for several years. Over the past 12 months the stock has gained 84%. In the midst of the first pull back of 2010, Ballard was one of the few stocks that actually traded a little higher. We believe it will go higher still. Much higher!
Updates:
COLLEGE PARK, MD and VANCOUVER, April 27 /CNW/ - Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) today announced the launch of a new center of excellence for the advancement of fuel processing technology, with founding partners University of Maryland (UMD) and U.S. Department of Defense Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The new center - named FuelWorks(TM) - will be located at the University of Maryland in College Park. 

Update: July 30th 2010 - Ballard builds worlds largest fuel cell generator!
 
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Early 2010 picks - Encana Resources (gas) , Ballard Power (Green Energy) , Wilan Technologies (Tech) and Apollo gold.

Image by George Eastman House via Flickr

Natural Gas, Gold, and Technology companies went into our Christmas Stocking in 2009 and here are the reasons why they will outperform in 2010.

Natural Gas: This is the green energy solution for the short to medium term (next 25 years at least). It is still a fossil fuel, however, it is 50% cleaner than oil and 85% cleaner than coal. It already powers homes, factories, buses, forklifts, back-up power generators and almost 5 million vehicles worldwide. Natural gas is also the short to medium term fuel for Fuel Cell power until the pure hydrogen problems can be fixed.

North America has just become the best store of gas in the world with world class shale gas deposits being discovered monthly from Texas to Nova Scotia. Encana, a mid sized Canadian company has huge stakes in Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, British Columbia and Alberta in every major shale gas field that is covered by Wall Street, and sought after by the big dogs. Last month Encana split into two companies, one as a stand alone oil company and one as a stand alone Gas company. The original company, Encana - ECA-TSE has become the gas play and for good reason. It's management also sees natural gas in the same light as this writer, as the short to medium term solution to the Green Energy revolution. It is pursuing this strategy with zeal (along with other competitors in the sector) however it has a broader brush of huge, proven deposits in most of the major fields in North America. Management is focused and determined to become one of the premiere gas companies in the world.

Cramer (mad money - cnbc) has recently recommended Encana as a strong buy and we couldn't agree more. On Dec 18th we bought Encana at 32.69 We believe this will be a home run in 2010.


Gold:

Apollo Gold announced on Dec 18th an update on it's core drills at it's Grey Fox site and those results are excellent! They are now drilling cores at their newly acquired Pike River property which connects it's Black Fox producing mine to the Grey Fox site. The potential is enormous and we believe Apollo gold is at the infant stages of becoming a world class deposit. This reinforces my reasoning for increasing my holdings through December and I believe there is more good news to come in the Q1, 2010 reports.

Gold Analysts from The Gold Report had this company at a strong buy before the drilling at "Grey Fox" even began, with a minimum target price between $1 and $2.79 (it is currently trading at .50) Those estimates were solely based on Apollo's new production at it's "Black Fox" Mine (approx 40,000 oz in 2009 and 100,000 oz in 2010). Now, add to that, the drill results at Grey Fox and Pike River, and you have a world class operation at the infant stage.

I expect those estimates to be greatly revised upwards into the 2010 Q1 reports. When Grey fox and Pike River come on stream they could make Apollo our first 10 bagger of 2010.

Apollo Gold Corp - (TSX: APG / NYSE Amex: AGT).


These Analysts recommend Apollo Gold as a Strong Buy:

1. . . .We continue to recommend the shares of Apollo Gold Corp. with a SECTOR OUTPERFORM rating."
-KERRY SMITH, HAYWOOD SECURITIES

2. "We have left our assumptions for 2010 unchanged, resulting in no effect on our $1.00 target price and SECTOR OUTPERFORM rating" for Apollo Gold.

- -TARA HASSAN, M PARTNERS

3..."Apollo Gold is very much a strong buy, an aggressive buy"."We think this company's Black Fox Mine, from which management expects to produce more than 100,000 ounces this year, represents the beginning of a world-class gold mining operation in the making. We say that on the basis of upside exploration potential not only on the producing Black Fox Mine but also on the basis of drill results from the Grey Fox and historical data from the Pike River Property, which Apollo recently acquired from Newmont. The combination of these three properties stretches out over 3.5 kilometers along strike. Moreover, mineralization is open at depth."

"If Bob Hoye is right and we start to see a major takeover craze beginning next year resulting from rising gold mining profits, companies with gold in the ground and with the kind of exploration potential Apollo has may suddenly be targeted very aggressively."

-Jay Taylor - J. Taylor gold Letter.

Other References: The argument for Gold,

Simply put, Apollo Gold is not just a gold play. It is a growing producer of a commodity that is under pressure around the world. that makes it a great takeover target for 2010. that is why we bought more Apollo Gold in December at .51 and .52

Technology Stocks:

We continue to increase our holdings in both Wilan Technologies and Ballard Power Systems as they both have a unique position in their respective markets.

Ballard Power - This first mover in the fuel cell industry Which has spawned a number of other fuel cell companies sometimes referred to as "Baby Ballards" has shifted it's focus to industrial uses for it's back-up power generators and is currently in production of 10,000 back up power units for the wireless industry in India. That contract alone will propel Ballard forward in 2010, but there is much much more.

Besides selling Fuel Cell forklifts to factories around the world at this writing, Ballard has great potential for building large fuel cell stacks that can actually replace coal, oil and nuclear power plants around the world. Such plants will at first utilize natural gas as fuel (see above-Encana) until the pure hydrogen problems are fixed. They also just completed the sale of a fleet of fuel cell buses to the city of Vancouver and no doubt, you will see coverage of this technology during the winter Olympics in February.

Look for Ballards stock to spike During the first week of February as the world is made more aware of Ballard during the Vancouver Olympics as their fuel cell buses carry athletes and spectators to Olympic venues and the international news runs stories of it's technology and numerous patents in the fuel cell sector.

Wilan Technologies is a "patently valuable company for the 21st century". Simply, it holds over 750 patents in wireless and internet technology including docsis, wimax, wilan, DSL, blue tooth, vchip and many more. Inventions in their portfolio are licensed by companies that manufacture or sell a wide range of communication and consumer electronics products including 3G cellular handsets, Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, Wi-Fi/DSL routers, xDSL infrastructure, WiMAX base stations, Bluetooth-enabled devices and digital television receivers. Over 210 companies, including Cisco, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, RIM, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba, have licensed WiLAN technologies. We think this is a $10 Stock (maybe more) trading currently at a very undervalued $2.40

The above noted stocks are, in our humble opinion, very much undervalued.

The Big dogs haven't yet taken notice of them, with the exception of Encana which is covered extensively by a number of analysts who have rated it a strong buy.

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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The Green Energy Revolutions biggest Month - December 2009 - Profiting from Clean Energy in 2010

Image by pshab via Flickr

President Obama is going to Copenhagen and the COP15 summit with a solid promise of Carbon reduction.

No it's not drastic, but it is far and away more than any previous administration in the United States have ever committed to. A 17% reduction in CO2 levels by 2020, below the 2005 level. It's not Kyoto, but it is a solid commitment, and when the USA leads, everyone else is bound to follow. Even China, who has taken over the title as worlds biggest polluter this year (from the USA) is catching the drift with some promises of Carbon reducing policies of it's own.

Canada's Prime Minister as well as many other world leaders will also be in attendance at Copenhagen. Now you must ask yourself, what affect will this have on my Retirefund?

In a nutshell, it is a complete game changer and will have a huge affect on investments all over the world. If these leaders come to an agreement, no matter how small, on reducing their carbon footprint on this planet, it is the beginning of the end for some companies and industries and it is the beginning of great wealth and prosperity for other companies who embrace the Green Energy revolution that is just beginning. The COP15 summit is the catalyst which puts this revolution into overdrive. That's how much of a game changer it is.

At this writing, California is legislating that fully 20% of all energy produced in the State beginning in 2010, must come from renewable resources. Federally in the U.S., there is a strong movement to legislate a similar law for the entire Country of 15% of total energy being produced by renewable resources beyond 2010. Billions of dollars are in play. Wind and Solar companies are springing up like the oil derricks of the 1890's. The "hydrogen highway" is being built in California. Hydrogen fuel cells burning, at first, natural gas and eventually pure hydrogen, will eventually play the major part in the greening of our planet. This is no time to be a wallflower. If you are not invested in the green revolution, you will merely be a spectator in the game, which will be the greatest wealth building era since the industrial revolution.

Make no mistake (as President Obama likes to say) This is a game changer. If you are invested in coal energy, you should probably get out now! If you are invested in pure oil plays you still have some time. If you are piling your money into Wind and Solar companies, you should maybe take a double check on that. They will eventually only be bit players in this great game but they will gain significantly in the short to medium term. Hydrogen is the future of energy, no matter how you look at it, and Natural gas is a great store of hydrogen for fuel cells, which have the greatest potential to produce the most wealth. PEM fuel cells can be stacked and therefore, can produce energy at the back up generator level, and at the giant energy plant level. They have the capacity to actually replace large oil fired, coal fired, and even nuclear power plants.

There will be flashes in the pan, so to speak, of ideas that, at first seem like solutions, but that will peter out like a late night camp fire. Clean coal (an oxymoron - as there is no such thing as clean coal) is the obvious one. Corn ethanol is another. It produces at least the same or even more carbon in it's production, than it saves by it's use as a gasoline additive.

"Could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century."
- Venture Capital Firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers

Do your homework and do it well before you invest, but don't sit on the sidelines of this great race. As Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"!

Our top pick:
Ballard Power Systems
BLD-T
BLDP-NASDAQ

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Stocks Scorecard October 2009

It’s bragging time! While I know full well that a “rising tide floats all boats” I also know that some boats are faster than others. Since January the S&P/TSX is up 25.2% so if you had bought a simple index fund you would be in the money by that amount minus .5% of your entire portfolio.

However, if you had invested along with me this year, here is what your returns would be at this point in the calendar:

TD Bank, 96% (bought in March) (sold Oct 1^st)

Ballard Power 130.97% (YTD)

Wi-lan Technologies 26.9% (YTD)

Apollo Gold 33.4% (bought in Sept)

Corridor Resources 74% (bought in March)

Now, if you had sold your U.S. Cash into the Canada buck when I did in January, this small simple transaction would have returned for you over 27.6% or more than the entire index.

To update these picks, I have sold approx 75% of my TD Stock (anytime you get a lift of 96% on a bank stock you take profit, period) however I am holding on to the rest as I still see great upside in all four of these picks. I also have some low PER mutual funds and my near term use funds are in money market funds.

I hope you have done as well with your Retirefund this year to date; however the year is not over and there is much more to be made. Of the four stocks I am keeping I expect that, even though their returns have been great, Ballard Power, and Apollo Gold have the momentum to double in the next two months with good upside beyond in early 2010. Wilan Technologies is still a sleeper with upside in the 300% range in my opinion, over the next 12 months, because of it’s 750 wireless patents. Corridor Resources is a small gas play with takeover potential.

I have increased my holdings in Apollo gold twice this month, since buying in at .45 My last purchase was at .55 as I believe that this stock has the most upside potential of all four.

Happy Investing. Happy retirement.

HP

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Impact of the "Green Revolution" on your Retirefunds!

Image by Damian Kettlewell for Vancouver-False Creek via Flickr

Alvin Toffler, in his insightful work ‘The Third Wave’, pointed out that humanity has achieved three revolutionary shifts of civilization throughout history. Firstly, the Agricultural Revolution enabled humanity to accumulate much wealth. The Industrial Revolution made possible mass production of industrial products, and The Information Revolution transformed the ways people think, work, and enjoy life.

Now, we are witnessing the newest, most powerful revolution of all time: The “Green Revolution.” It will change the way we power this planet. It will change the way we live, work, travel and more importantly, from an investment point of view, the way we invest. The catalyst for these massive changes may be the COP 15 Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen on Dec 7th 2009.

Make no mistake. This is one of "the" most important international conferences of our lifetime. If agreements can be reached in even some basic areas being discussed, then this meeting will have as much impact on your life as the Industrial revolution had for your great grandfather. Strictly from a monetary point of view, it will dwarf the financial impact of the information revolution of the 20th century. We are already seeing major investment houses moving into the green energy sector in a big way.

This year, Wind and Solar companies have posted significant increases in their stock prices. So how can you benefit from this monumental shift in investment strategy when any company with even a chance to advance in this industry is making investors money? PEM fuel cells, that's where! Fuel cells burning, at first, natural gas, and eventually pure hydrogen. This the future of energy on this planet. Wind and Solar will be "bit players" in comparison!

For over 20 years a Canadian company has been developing PEM fuel cell technology and this year it began shipping various product to buyers in the U.S., Canada, India, Europe and soon China. This company is so entrenched in this industry that it holds hundreds of the original patents for the underlying technology and has spawned from it's ranks, other companies with offshoot technologies. Three of them are, Fuel Cell Technologies, Plug Power and Hydrogenics. They are often referred to as "Baby Ballards" after the original fuel cell champion, Ballard Power systems of Vancouver, British Columbia.

After Chrysler and Ford bought into Ballard in a big way, about 7 years ago, investors took notice and drove up the stock. Since then, because of the slow pace of the "Auto" part of the technology, investors lost interest and the stock price dove below $2.00 after Ballard sold off it's "Auto" technology to these industry players.

Investors have short attention spans, don't they? Sometimes I wonder if investors can see the big picture at all. Most are simply traders, and not investors. At this time in history, Ballard Power is a "diamond" in the rough of the green energy revolution, and investors who are paying attention stand to increase their wealth tremendously.

It is not in the auto industry that this company will dominate. It is in clean energy production in general, replacing major power plants with giant fuel cell stacks burning, at first, Natural Gas and eventually pure Hydrogen. It is in the propulsion systems of buses, forklifts, ships and trains that Ballard will eventually make it's very big mark in the Green Energy Space. It is also in back up power generation like that recently shipped to India for their wireless systems. 310 fuel cell generators are being shipped to India by Dec 31st. It is the start of an order for 10,000 fuel cell generators to one of the most dynamic growing economies on the planet. This contract alone could end up being 30,000 generators, and that is only "one part" of Ballard's expertise.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars? Possibly! Electric cars? possibly! Even if electric cars win out, where will the electrical power come from. It will come from power plants incorporating giant fuel cell stacks, manufactured by Ballard Power Systems, and replacing dirty Coal, Oil and even Nuclear plants.

Green energy is not the only green that will be produced by this sleeping tech giant. I have owned Ballard for over 9 years, and this year, because of their production in these areas, I increased my holdings tenfold. My money is where my mouth is, where is yours?

Read more: Future of Energy

Oct 28-09 The Obama Effect

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The future of energy is not oil, coal, solar, wind or nuclear!

Image via Wikipedia

Investing in energy can enhance your Retirefund in a very positive way, especially at this important juncture in history. Such investments are doing that for me right now. Do some research before you jump in, but don't be afraid to jump in, just be cautious. You wouldn't buy a new car without first doing research. Investments are no different, but make no mistake, the market has been the driving force of wealth for 100 years, and will be for the next hundred years.

Energy! It is such a complex and compelling subject. From the peak oil scare, to giant wind farms in Texas funded by lifelong oilman T.Boone Pickens. ( note: there are massive wind farms throughout Germany right now) Giant solar farms in California and Arizona. Presidential candidates pushing for 20 new nuclear plants and screaming "drill baby drill"! What can be made of all of this?

There is one energy source that has been discussed for the past 20 years as the energy of the future. Because of the short attention span of many investors, and the slower pace of solid science and engineering, this energy source has been flying under the radar for the past 5 years at least.

When scientists such as astro physicists explore space for signs of life other than that which is found on our small planet, they always include one molecule, or at least the atomic weight of one molecule hoping that intelligent life out there will understand. There is one reason for this. It is not only the most common element on this planet, it is not only the most common element in this solar system, it is not only the most common element in our galaxy, but it is "the" most common element in the universe. It is hydrogen, and it will power our future!

Hydrogen fuel cells have been touted as the future of the automobile industry. However it is not in the automobile industry that we will feel the first major effects of this abundant energy source. No it is not in the Buses running through the streets of Chicago or Vancouver that use hydrogen fuel cells produced by Ballard Power Systems (BLD-T) It is not in the cars that already operate with these fuel cells on the highways of California. Though this is certainly the future of the Auto industry, the beginning is much more modest.

It is on the factory floors, the warehouses, storage companies, moving companies, big box stores and myriad of other businesses throughout the world that will be the first to tap into this wonderful, not so new, technology. It is the humble forklift that will be the catalyst which speeds this technology into overdrive.

Ballard Power Systems has been methodically working on their fuel cell technology for over 20 years. It holds over 200 of the original patents in this technology and it has spawned it's own competitors, sometimes called "baby Ballards" such as, Fuel Cell Technologies, Plug Power and Hydrogenics, in much the same way that "Ma Bell" spawned "baby Bells" when it became dominant in it's business. Not to say that Ballard is dominant in it's business, but it certainly is dominant in owning the patents for the underlying technology, and far ahead of the kids in development. This year, it is shipping hundreds of fuel cell generators to India and the far East, to power wireless systems. It is shipping fuel cell fork lifts to a number of companies. These are the first breaths of a sleeping tech giant in my humble opinion.

Now it is well documented that one of the barriers to utilizing Hydrogen fuel cells is the storage of the hydrogen itself. Pure hydrogen (of which the only byproduct from using it in fuel cells is pure water) is volatile and must be cooled tremendously to be stored properly (at least with today's technology). Engineers and scientists are working on this problem and, no doubt, like Edison's light bulb, they will solve it, given time. So what happens in the mean time?

Natural gas! That's what happens. You see, as hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it is found in many things, not the least of which is simple water (H2O or two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen). It is also found in every hydrocarbon, including, you guessed it, natural gas. Now let me see....hmmmm which continent has the most abundant supply of natural gas hmmmm..... Why it's right here in North America of course. Canada, and the USA are sitting on enough natural gas to power the whole planet for the next two hundred years and beyond.

Storing natural gas is also a challenge, but is already being done on a massive scale. Using this "first source" of hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles (from fork lifts to buses, trucks, railways, boats, cruise ships, huge power plants and then cars)will reduce current carbon emissions by over 70%. Talk about the "green energy" of the future!

Yes I know, there are hybrid gas electric vehicles on the road and now some electric vehicles etc These "stop gap" measures were talked about by "all" of the CEO's of the major car companies in the world from GM to Honda, back in the late nineties as exactly that: "STOP GAP: technologies that will pave the way to a hydrogen economy. Even if the pure electric vehicle finally wins the battle as a dominant technology, where will the electricity come from? It will come from power plants utilizing huge fuel cell stacks, burning at first, natural gas and then, eventually, pure hydrogen. It couldn't get any greener than this.

That economy is a lot closer than many investors know, and it all starts this year with fuel cell fork lifts being shipped around the world, mobile back up power generators for wireless systems in India, Germany and Denmark . Back up home generators in North America and Japan and this is only the beginning. Sooner than you think, large dirty coal power plants from Beijing and Mumbai to New York and Mexico City will be replaced with giant stacks of Fuel Cells to generate electric power to a hungry planet. No more dirty air! No more nuclear scares. Yes, there will still be the cry to "drill baby drill" but it won't be for oil near our coastal cities or our pristine northern wilderness. It will be for natural gas, in the largest pool of on land, natural gas fields in the world! Right here in our back yard.

And it's all thanks to one small company (soon to be a big company), Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver British Columbia whose founder had a vision for the future of this planet, and acted upon that vision.

Now do you think this information will affect your Retirefunds? I don't think it will, I know it will.

Update: Sept 10th 2009 ( Reuters )

"The Ardour Global Alernative Energy Index announced that Ballard Power Systems to be added to the index on September 20th 2009".

"The Ardour Global Alternative energy Index (SM) is a Capitalization-weighted, float-adjusted, index of the most prominent alternative energy stocks in the world. To be included in the AGIGL index, companies must be a pure-play and the stocks must pass multiple screens, including for capitalization, float, exchange listing, share price and turnover"!

Update: Oct 1-09 New York Times !
Oct 3 - 09 Vancouver transit accepts delivery of it's first Ballard fuel cell bus
Oct 8-09 Green Revolution

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SiliconInvestor likes my favorite stock.....hmmmm

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I just ran across a recommendation by Greg Reid CFA, at Silicon Investor regarding one of my favorite stocks, Wi-Lan Technologies Inc.

Mr. Reid believes that this stock is greatly undervalued and has great upside potential due to it's strong patent portfolio.

In the interest of disclosure, In early March I increased our holdings 10 fold in this Ottawa based company this was before I read the evaluation at SiliconInvestor.com.) Wi-Lan now holds over 500 patents, the majority of which are in the wireless business.

During this time of uncertainty in the markets, I have solidified some mutual fund holdings into cash or money market funds, while hunting for what I believe are undervalued companies with great upside potential.

To this end I have also increased 10 fold, my investment in Ballard Power Systems as I believe the Obama Administration's push to green energy technology, coupled with the companies long history and strong patent portfolio in the area of fuel cell technology, will serve to help increase the value of these holdings over the next year.

Buying these stocks at what is essentially penny evaluations, reminded me of an old saying passed down to me.

"Look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves"!

I am betting these stocks will increase my Retirefund

What do you think?

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