August 21th 2002
Japan's Fuel Cell Market to Grow Rapidly: Survey
Source:Jiji Press Ticker
Service
Japan's fuel cell market will rapidly grow, with shipments expected to climb to 401.1 billion yen
in 2010 from an estimate of mere 100 million yen for this year, a private research firm said
Thursday.
The Yano Research Institute said in a survey report that shipments of fuel
cell systems for
households will total 265 billion yen in 2010, or 66 pct of the overall
shipments, replacing
currently popular water heaters and other equipment.
Shipments of automobile fuel cells will amount to 72.5 billion yen, or
18 pct of the total, while
fuel cells for mobile phones and laptop computers will reach 44 billion
yen, or 11 pct, the
institute forecast.
Fuel cells, which generate electricity through chemical reactions between
hydrogen and
oxygen, are drawing attention as a clean and efficient source of energy.
But their high
production costs are considered to be a major factor hindering their applications.
