The automotive fuel cell industry now stands out as a glimmering beacon in the supply chain's vertical landscape. Driven by factors ranging from homeland security to diminishing natural resources, the fuel cell supply chain market will explode to somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion by 2012, according to analysts at ABI Research.
"And that's just the beginning, really," said Atakan Ozbek, principal analyst at ABI, in an interview with eWEEK.com. Fuel cell technology, which uses hydrogen as renewable energy, looks likely to ultimately replace internal combustion engines inside automobiles, buses, trucks, and other vehicles. "But most likely, you won't be able to buy a car that uses fuel cell technology for another 20 years or so. That's still further into the future," he said. Instead, the fuel cell market in 2012 will revolve largely around large government fleets such as municipal bus lines, according to the analyst.
News source: Reuters
