What’s the Best Small Cap Hydrogen Fuel Stock? HYGS, FCEL, HYSR & HPTG

Small cap hydrogen fuel stocks Hydrogenics Corporation (NASDAQ: HYGS), FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL), HyperSolar Inc (OTCMKTS: HYSR) and HydroPhi Technologies Group, Inc (OTCMKTS: HPTG) are some of the lesser known small caps that are working with hydrogen fuel or hydrogen fuel cell related technology. I should say that small cap hydrogen stocks are not for risk adverse investors as there are considerable unanswered questions about hydrogen fuel related technology and whether it can be a viable green technology given the fueling infrastructure needed along with the energy and expense involved in creating hydrogen (Note: None of these small cap stocks are profitable at ). But any new technology will pose the same types of risks for early stage investors – especially if its so-called green technology. 

With that and mind and if you have a stomach for risk, the following small cap hydrogen fuel stocks could make interesting speculative bets:

Hydrogenics Corporation. A worldwide leader designing, manufacturing, building and installing industrial and commercial Hydrogen Systems, small cap Hydrogenics Corporation's corporate headquarters are located in Mississauga, Canada with manufacturing facilities located in Germany and Belgium. More specifically, the company has expertise in hydrogen generators for industrial processes and fueling stations; hydrogen fuel cells for electric vehicles (e.g urban transit buses, commercial fleets, utility vehicles and electric lift trucks); fuel cell installations for freestanding electrical power plants and UPS systems (uninterruptible power supply); and the company is pioneering "Power-to-Gas" - the world's most innovative way to store and transport energy. Earlier this week, Hydrogenics Corporation announced it will be a participating partner in the government funded Power-to-Gas Biological Catalysis Project in Denmark that will use hydrogen made ​​from excess wind power to convert biogas from sewage sludge into cleaner methane gas while back in January, the company announced it had been awarded two contracts for fueling stations in the United Kingdom and had been been awarded a CAD$3.8 million contract to supply a micro-grid energy storage application in Canada. In addition and late in December, Hydrogenics Corporation was selected as a participating partner in a United States Department of Energy (DOE) project award to supply hydrogen fuel cell modules to the Center for Transportation and the Environment to be incorporated into fuel cell hybrid electric delivery vehicles. On Wednesday, Hydrogenics Corporation rose 2.54% to $25.41 (HYGS has a 52 week trading range of $7.51 to $25.91 a share) for a market cap of $228.98 million plus the stock is up 197.5% over the past year and up 147.9% over the past five years.

FuelCell Energy Inc. An integrated fuel cell company that designs, manufactures, installs, operates and services stationary fuel cell power plants, small cap FuelCell Energy is also actively researching unique applications for its versatile Direct FuelCell (DFC) technology, including hydrogen generation, and the company is pursuing research with hydrogen compression and storage. Specifically, FuelCell Energy is developing a version of DFC technology that produces extra hydrogen beyond what is needed for power production – meaning this technology would transform a distributed power generation system into one which is also a distributed hydrogen production system producing hydrogen at or near filling stations and thus help to eliminate an infrastructure issue that impedes the adoption of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. On Wednesday, FuelCell Energy fell 1.16% to $1.70 (FCEL has a 52 week trading range of $0.84 to $1.95 a share) for a market cap of $349.15 million plus the stock is up 57.4% over the past year and down 52.2% over the past five years.

HyperSolar Inc. Small cap HyperSolar Inc is developing a breakthrough, low cost technology to make renewable hydrogen using sunlight and any source of water, including seawater and wastewater. Unlike hydrocarbon fuels that releases carbon dioxide and other contaminants into the atmosphere when used, hydrogen fuel usage produces pure water as the only byproduct (albeit hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas in a process that releases substantial amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere). The technology HyperSolar Inc is developing is a solar powered system to directly use solar power to produce hydrogen from water – basically by splitting the H atoms from the O atom in H2O. Last week, HyperSolar Inc announced that its artificial photosynthesis technology is now capable of producing 1.2 volt open circuit voltage for use in direct solar hydrogen production - another 10% increase over the previous 1.1 volt reached late last year in what it says is a significant step towards "truly renewable low cost hydrogen." On Wednesday, HyperSolar Inc fell 4.08% to $0.0047 (HYSR has a 52 week trading range of up to $0.02 a share) for a market cap of $1.17 million plus the stock is down 37.3% over the past year and down 97.6% since July 2010.

HydroPhi Technologies Group. A leading developer of water-based hydrogen fuel production systems, small cap HydroPhi Technologies Group's technology is not a fuel cell or a hydrogen alternative to traditional hydrocarbon fuels. Instead, the company's system utilizes ordinary water for the production of hydrogen, which is then injected into carbon-based fuels such as diesel, unleaded gasoline and natural gas. The HydroPhi Technologies Group's flagship HydroPlant™ technology reduces vehicle operating costs by improving fuel efficiency up to 20% and lowering greenhouse gas emissions up to 70%.

With an on-board, real-time, on-demand electrolysis system to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water, the technology also eliminates the need for high-pressure hydrogen storage or hazardous chemicals while producing a stable, inexpensive alternative fuel source. HydroPhi Technologies Group has recently announced that Rutas Unidas Federación de Transportistas Independientes de México, the largest association of bus operators based in Mexico City, has reported consistent fuel savings in excess of 20% on buses equipped with the company's Hydroplant™ technology. Moreover, HydroPhi Technologies Group is in discussions with large fleet operators in selected markets in Latin America and Asia while last Tuesday, the company issued an update which noted: 

"We have significantly improved our balance sheet from the prior fiscal year end largely by converting debt to common stock, thus reducing total liabilities from approximately $14.3 million to $4.8 million. At the same time, we have been keeping our current fixed costs low. So as sales, begin to ramp up, we expect to benefit from high incremental margins."

On Wednesday, HydroPhi Technologies Group fell 0.67% to $0.75 (HPTG has a 52 week trading range of $0.55 to $0.83 a share) for a market cap of $76.49 million plus the stock is up 6.4% since the start of the year.