June 25, 1989

News 985-2132

Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 64 pages 25¢

NEWS photo Terry Peters

: ROSS ROAD Elementary School principal Wayne Ferrey waves to students,staff and parents as he rides around the school's playing field on ‘Thursday morning. After nine years at
the school, Ferrey is being transferred to another post.The cide is, the convertibic was jusi part of the school’s sendoff to a favorite principal.

BALLARD TECHNOLOGIES CORP.'S SOLID POLYME

R FUEL CELL

Defence agreement could mean
millions for N. Vancouver firm

ASSOCIATE Minister of Defence and Capilano-Howe
Sound MP Mary Collins announced Friday a commitment
from the Department of National Defence (DND) to use the
revolutionary non-polluting Solid Polymer Fuel Cell (SPFC)
technology currently being developed by North Vancouver's
Ballard Technologies Corp. (BTC).

The precedent-setting Memo-
randum of Understanding means
that the federal government will
work in partnership with BTC to
develop the technology, which will
initially be used for military pur-
poses, dui has the potential for
almost unlimited commercial and
industrial applications.

Though cell applications must
still undergo DND technical and
economic evaluation, Friday’s

signing puts BTC in line for fur-
ther federal government funding
and could result in contracts runn-
ing into the hundreds of millions
of dollars for the North Vancouver
firm.

It also means that the Canadian
Armed Forces has committed itself

to using non-polluting technology.

BTC spokesman David McLeod
said the commitment represented
‘a huge step for us.*”

In signing the agreement, BTC
president Firoz Rasul said the
document was ‘ta major milestone
in the company’s plans to .om-
mercialize this revolutionary tech-
nofogy.... (I) provides us with the
credibility and foundation upon
which we can build a world-class
company.”’

Collins, who has been in-
strumental in developing federal
government support for BTC, said
DND was committed to fuel cell
development not only because it
represented a reliable and efficient

Power source suitable for
operating in various difficult. mifi-
tary conditions, but because it was
non-polluting.

“So it has many military ap-
plications, but it also has a poten-
tial benefit to the environment,””
Collins said.

Benefits of the new agreement
between BTC and the government,
she said, included stimulating mili-
tary research and a joint action
plan for developing military ap-
plications for fuel cell technology
and, ultimately, making Canada
more self sufficient.

Since 1983, the federal govern-
ment has provided $1.8 million of
the $4 million invested in BTC's

fuel cell development.

The first piece of fuel cell-
powered equipment that will be
tested and used by the Canadian
Armed Forces will be a four-
kilowatt generator.

BTC, which was founded in
1979 by company president Geof-
frey Ballard, has beaten some of
the world’s Jargest industrial
tesearch corporations and con-
glomerates to the purcn on
SPFCs.

Designed by BTC to extract
hydrogen from liquid methanol,
the fuel cefl converts chemical
energy from hydrogen directly to

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