A Lunch Conversation

I had a discussion with our departments new Safety Director last week. It was the first time I really had the chance to talk with him personally, and we had a very interesting discussion over lunch. Turns out he was an ex-engineer at Ballard Power Systems, and was layed off after working there for 14 years. When I asked him about if he was happy in his current position, he replied that although the pay was not as good, the piece of mind he got here, the lower stress levels, and the extra time he got to spend with his family more than made up with it. Essentially, no matter how successful he had been in his professional life, it did not compare to the enjoyment he was getting from having a successful personal life.

The other thing I queried him about was about the future of Ballard. For those of you who don't know, Ballard Power Systems was a Canadian startup that in the early 1990's developed a Hydrogen Fuel Cell which produced ZERO harmful emissions. The invention was supposed to revolutionize the transportation industry and solve all our worries about climate change. The company ballooned from a few zealous inventors to a huge company of 300 engineers based out of Burnaby, BC. Ford Motors invested 750 MILLION dollars into the technology and the idea was that in about 20 years, all cars would be running on Hydrogen Fuel Cells.

Well, things haven't quite worked out as imagined. Ballard is now OUT of the automobile business, and has downsized to about 100 employees. There is even talk that this uniquely Canadian company may be sold off to foreign investors. But what went wrong?

Essentially, the problem was that although the technology worked perfectly, and was tested in prototype cars, buses and other modes of transport, no matter how much convincing was done, governments have not supported the production and supply of readily available Hydrogen to fuel these vehicles. The expectation was that once people saw how wonderful the technology was, Hydrogen would be readily produced along the same scale as Gasoline, Diesel, Propane and CNG is now. The problem is that at present, production of fuel Hydrogen is not economically feasible. Other types of fuel are cheaper. Think about it... we have the technology available to massively reduce greenhouse emissions, and perhaps solve our problem of Global Climate Change and yet, we ignore it.

The advice our director gave me was quite telling. With engineering problems, it is important to think things through from beginning to end. Ballard had a brilliant idea, and successful implementation, but they never considered human nature, and how selfish we can be. Until the effects of climate change begin to seriously affect us, we will not pressure governments to support sustainable technology as long as it is expensive. No matter how brilliant the idea the engineer comes up with, and no matter how serious the problem is, ultimately, it comes down to the bottom line, and the power of what is in your wallet. Every individual needs to think things through from beginning to end, because no matter how brilliant your idea may be in the beginning, other factors may come to dictate how successful it is in the end. And I think this is a lesson that can be applied to may of the decisions we make throughout our personal lives as well.

It is good to listen to those of us who have life experience, and I was quite lucky to be given the chance to learn something from this person just over this simple lunch conversation.