Yesterday, the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) held a tour of their facilities for any UBC Mech students. The facility is located just south of the campus near TRIUMPH and is Canada’s leading research facility for hydrogen and fuel cells. It’s also LEED’s Gold certified! You can check out that info here.

We had numerous researchers introduce us to the basics of fuel cells and what NRC-IFCI did. After an hour of slides, we finally got to the good stuff. First up was a drive around the block with both the Ford Focus sedan and GM’s demonstration SUV. The first thing you notice in the car is the difference in sounds you’re used to hearing. Instead of the roaring engine, you get a few air compression sounds and a whole lot of gentle humming. The demonstrators described a lot of the car’s processes (plus the on-board screen that shows the car’s status). One amusing tidbit was the fact that the rear seats have either a permanent arm-rest bulging out or permanent cup-holders to limit the total passenger capacity (due to weight restrictions).

After that we had a tour of the facilities. To be honest, there wasn’t much to see aside from a whole bunch of advanced looking research labs and expensive equipment. Much of the building’s assets that gave them LEED certification came from their solar panels, geothermal energy usage, and alternative fuel stations for transport. There was also a neat containment area where the cars are placed to make environmental and vibrational tests.

Many people always debate about hydrogen fuel cells vs electric battery cars. As one of the researchers put nicely: it’s not a competition; the two technologies should complement each other. Both have different benefits and, in my opinion, should be developed in parallel. The sooner we rid our reliance on fossil fuels and turn towards a more sustainable solution, the better. And note to all: they’re hiring co-op students!