“Fuel cells will change our world”.

Hmmm, well maybe one day. But right now, it seems that change won’t come as fast as we thought.

Ballard Power Systems apparently weary of the challenge to create a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle, has sold its technology to two of the big three auto makers.

Daimler and Ford have joined forces to create a new company, which will provide Ballard with a return on their development of $95-million to $105-million.

Ballard will transfer some 113 employees from its Vancouver operation to the new co-operative venture of the two automakers, Ballard will continue to provide fuel cell technology but only on a profit based basis, ie: they won’t be investing in the company any more after a one time injection of 60 million dollars, rather they will be just another supplier.

The fact that two giant automakers have managed to grab control of what was supposed to be one of those life changing pieces of technology has a few of the more conspiracy minded types smelling a foul fish.

They remind us to be mindful of past urban legends, which had the Big auto companies gobbling up prototypical electric car models and engines that provided amazing gas mileage, in order to keep the status quo on place.

They were the new technologies that never saw the light of day, remaining to this day the talking points for those that find evil in the hearts of the worlds gasoline driven automakers and oil companies.

Whether Ballard’s fuel cell technology becomes just another chapter in that historical list of suspicion remains to be seen.

For Ballard and other fuel cell companies the last few years have been hard years as stock shares and profit margins declined rapidly. Once a darling of the new energy sectors, Ballard stock shares have recently been trading at 4.99 a share, back in 2000 it was a very different story as Ballard shares were the hot stock of the era, going for 200 dollars a share or more.

It’s been a seven year decline since then, as the problems in providing a commercially viable product took the stock lower and investors decided that an environmentally friendly power system might be a few years off just yet.

Back in 2004 Ballard was making a commitment to stay ahead of the auto companies in developing an exciting new technology; “Refocused on its core technology, Ballard intends to concentrate on staying ahead of auto companies, including Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Fiat, that have launched fuel-cell programs. "Everything we do," he says, "is focused on maintaining that lead."

As it seems to have turned out, instead of staying ahead of them, Ballard has been swallowed up by two of them. A move which leaves the technology still much more in the world of science fiction, rather than in Industrial revolution.

So, even while the cost of oil heads for 100 dollars a barrel today, and everyone claims that a greener world is where we need to be. The future of clean energy sources still seems the thing of the Jetsons, while we are barely out of the days of the Flintstones.