Aligning Business and Philanthropy to Drive Sustainable Social Change: The Fuel Cell Opportunity Benson P. Lee, President Technology Management, Inc. Cleveland, Ohio

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Aligning Business and Philanthropy to Drive
Sustainable Social Change The Fuel Cell
OpportunityBenson P. Lee, PresidentTechnology
Management, Inc.Cleveland, Ohio
Finding Philanthropies Sweet Spot Symposium
Stanford Social Innovation Review Rockefeller
Philanthropy Advisors
May 16, 2006 Dahesh Museum New York , NY
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Technology Management, Inc. (TMI)

• Vision
• Business mission leveraged by foundations and
  NGOs to further their social missions
• Fuel cells in the Third World
• 1 kW solutions, starting with clean water
• Technology Philanthropy Business
• Do better by doing good

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Fuel Cells

• Chemical process converts fuel into electricity
  and heat
• Twice as efficient as todays power plants
• Clean energy, non-polluting
• In use since the 60s
• Commercial systems must be efficient and
  affordable, at NASA levels of dependability
• Now at the demonstration stage

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Three I,000 Watt Systems

• Developed at SOHIO
• Acquired technology and technologists in 1990
• 3-5 years from shipping product
• Brutal field testing
• Engineer for volume production

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TMI System Evolution
2002 Demonstration
2006-7 Field Test System
50-60 lbs.

• Virtually any fuel
• Natural gas, propane, kerosene, blends
• Ethanol, vegetable oil
• Biogas
• Ease of maintenance
• Scalable by adding systems
• Full production 500.

29 X 12 x 12
42 X 15 x 15 100 lbs.
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Fuel Cell Systems

• Core advantage grid independent
• One time opportunity
• Distributed generation on-site alternative to
  utility grid
• Bypass dependence on foreign oil
• Head off oil, gas, and coal consumption
• Advance renewable biomass energy sources
• Third World can lead reduction of greenhouse
  gases
• New Partnerships can drive change
• Local control
• Social change and business creation
• Electricity infrastructure common goal
• Technologists, entrepreneurs and foundations

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Scenario Rural Village in India

• Loan to self-help group for fuel cell system
• Power for water purifiers and pumps
• Education on clean water and health
• Cooking, refrigeration, lighting,
  telecommunications
• Businesses created,
• Social and economic infrastructure
• Repay loan, replicate

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4 Billion People A Transformative Opportunity

• Enormous business opportunity
• Two critical challenges
• Financing to bring to scale
• Partnerships on the ground

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First World Markets

• Early adopters -- performance/features provide
  more value than low price
• Natural gas pipelines and telecom towers
• Military, many mobile
• Truck APUs (Auxiliary Power Units)
• TMIs partnership model
• Market knowledge, market delivery capabilities,
  end user relationships

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Third World Markets

• No templates to follow
• Planning requires a process of discovery
• New kinds of partnerships
• NGOs, foundations, governments, and/or businesses
• Local stakeholders

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Program Related Investment (PRI)

• if foundations are willing to take on the risk
  and complexity of pioneering financial solutions
  to these market gaps, they can achieve program
  objectives while still creating investments that
  earn market-comparable returns.
• Unique opportunity for
• Convergence of for-profit missions with social
  missions to alleviate Third World problems
• p.18 Investing for Impact Managing and
  Measuring Proactive Social Investments
  Foundation Strategy Group (January 2006)

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Accelerate Sustainable Social Changes

• Significant financial returns possible
• Electric infrastructure, based on fuel cells,
  offers a sustainable, systemic approach
• Alignment impossible can become natural and
  inevitable