The fuel cell industry is growing even in the face of a global economic recession, with 2010 revenues exceeding $750 million. Markets such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), residential combined heat and power (CHP), power for remote monitoring equipment, auxiliary power units (APUs), and portal power for military applications have all experienced an increase in traction over the last year.
In the midst of the increase in revenue and shipments, a number of metatrends are emerging that will change the shape the industry by the end of 2011, according to a new white paper by Pike Research. These 10 metatrends include long-anticipated trends such as company consolidation but also issues that have sprung out of nowhere in the past year such as concerns over supply of rare earth metals (REMs). The issue of government intervention versus free market will continue to simmer. Finally, new markets for fuel cells are continuing to come to the fore as the economics of adoption, both direct and indirect, continue to be tipped in favor of the technology.
The paper, which includes predictions about the fuel cell and hydrogen industry in 2011 and beyond, is available for download on Pike Research’s website.
The 10 trends (in no particular order) are:
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Increasing importance of the hydrogen “Juniors”;
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Re-emergence of the private equity firms;
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Tipping points in the stationary fuel cell sector;
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Fuel cell vehicle will continue to see limited, but growing, deployment;
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Necessary consolidation in the fuel cell industry;
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Rising influence of Japan and Korea in the global fuel cell industry;
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Hydrogen as an energy storage medium;
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Refocusing and rebranding;
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Rare earth restrictions as an obstacle to fuel cell adoption; and
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UAVs as a key market for micro fuel cells.
Pike Research says that it will publish a suite of reports during 2011 analyzing these trends in depth.