Over the last few years, interest has grown for more eco-compatible energy sources, due to rising concern vis-à-vis urban pollution and global warming. There is widespread opinion that an energy regime exclusively centered on the exploitation of fossil fuels is no longer sustainable, both on grounds of environmental security and security of supply.
Among the options available to reduce our dependency on hydrocarbons, the search is on for energy vectors that have a low environmental impact and can be obtainable from alternative energy sources. Hydrogen seems to be the answer to these requirements. By feeding the electrochemical process occurring inside a fuel cell, this vector allows the generation of electrical energy, heat and water, without releasing noxious emissions. However the extensive recourse to hydrogen requires the upgrading of the technologies employed in its production, stocking and use. If the production of hydrogen were to be the outcome of a chemical treatment of hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide emissions would not be significantly curtailed, although pollution abatement would be major. The production cycle could otherwise be entirely clean, if hydrogen were manufactured with the aid of renewable sources.
Fuel cells are systems that are able to convert the chemical energy contained in a fuel directly into electrical energy, allowing much higher yields with respect to conventional technologies. Three are the main applications of this technology: stationary solutions, for the generation and distribution of electrical energy for residential and industrial uses; transportation, as potential substitute of the internal combustion engine; portable applications, to be employed in consumer electronics or as alternatives to continuity generators.
The hydrogen-fuel cell combination, based on very versatile and modular technology, is proposed as the ideal complement in a diversification strategy of primary energy sources. In spite of the positive elements so far highlighted, these solutions are still problematic at the industrial level. The introduction of so a pervasive technology (according to many economists, fuel cells are quintessentially disruptive innovations, reshaping the whole economy) requires a collaborative effort on the part of all players and stakeholders; from producers of components to system integrators, from policy makers to venture capitalists, down to local administrations and end users.
Since 1997, the evolutionary dynamics, the strategic alliances and the patents registered by the various actors operating in this industry have been monitored by the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Business Observatory, launched in 2004 and coordinated by SPACE research center of Bocconi University as part of a network of European universities. The growing interest in this technology is proved by the involvement of more than 600 organizations around the world, which have stipulated more 800 strategic collaboration agreements over the last six years. The same organizations have registered almost 12,000 patents linked to fuel-cell technology.
Research results confirm that collaboration between organizations ends up being the most effective strategy to accelerate innovation and diffusion in this attractive, albeit complex, technology. The thick mesh of agreements detected has not developed randomly, but according to a logic of complementarity among the organizations involved. The financial support of public and private entities is still vital for firms to navigate down cost curves and improve technological performance. However, the efficiency of investment should be improved by taking into account the existing network of collaborations, and focusing resources on those firms that operate in crucial positions of the network.
by Paolo Migliavacca, Angelo Russo ,
members of the Bocconi CSR Unit and
Stefano Pogutz
Director of the Bocconi Master in Environmental Economics and Management