Question:
What future developments do you see for fuel cells?

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 I sense that the predictions for fuel cells are somewhat overoptimistic. As I said before, there are various issues to deal with, and they will not be solved immediately. The Agency of Natural Resources and Energy includes a group of which I am a member called the Society for Strategy in Fuel Cell Development. The group has proposed a goal for Japan of 50,000 fuel cell–based cars by 2010, 5,000,000 cars by 2020, 2,100,000 kW of home use fuel cell output by 2010, and 10,000,000 kW by 2020. To achieve that goal, we are laying out a specific strategy for what kinds of problems must be overcome, by whom, and by when. With the underlying assumption that the energy, IT, and biotech industries will be the base industries of the future, we must steadily promote the use of fuel cells. It would be a mistake to think that we can implement the technology overnight, but on the other hand we would be equally mistaken to abandon the research due to the difficulties. In the future when we enter an era of hydrogen-based energy, I think fuel cells will definitely be the best choice. Why? Because they are energy-efficient and clean.

Question:
How can makers of measuring instruments contribute to fuel cell development?

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Since fuel cells are at an early stage, we still need measuring instruments designed to aid in their development. I'll be looking out for instruments that have the ability to quickly and accurately capture changes in voltage, current, and internal resistance during operation, sensors that can reliably monitor dramatic load fluctuations over long periods of time, and a rollout of a series of instrumentation control technologies. The parts that make the fuel, generate the electricity, and extract the waste heat are very complicated, so I think matching technological innovations in automatic control will also be very important. In addition it will be necessary to build reliable monitoring systems once the cells become popular.

Fuel cells sounds like an ideal energy source for the realization of a cleaner 21st century.
Thank you very much for speaking with us today.
(Interviewer: Mr. Koichi Chujo, Yokogawa Electric Corp., T&M Business Div.)