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Fuelcell Energy Provides Quantum Investment for Opportunity Funds

Quantum in physics is the subdivision of energy into heat, electricity, light and magnetic spin known as quantum states. In our everyday lives we typically only consume one of these first three states of energy at a time but mostly rely on magnetic spin for the generation of electricity and thus heat and light thanks to Nikolai Tesla.

Tesla was the first to see that a conductive material such as copper could be used to convert the energy given off in magnetic fields into electricity at earthly temperatures and pressures. The electric generation industry has been built and runs on this conversion of energy from one quantum state to another for over 100 years harvesting mechanical energy from the environment and similar mechanical harvesting from fossil fuels in the form of steam turbines.

Fuel cells create unearthly temperatures and pressures under which hydrogen rich fossil fuels are subjected and yield electricity, heat and cleanly separates the fuel into more useful components like hydrogen and highly valuable carbon capture materials such as graphene, nanotubes, simple polymers and alcohols. This next step forward in the quantum conversion of energy gives rise to new composite materials manufacturing industries.

Qualified opportunity zones are designated areas by the 50 states governors and given special tax benefits under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the treatment of capital gains. In these opportunity zones, developers, businesses and funds/investors are eligible for the stacking of energy tax credits of which currently there is a 30% credit on fuel cells. This adds a considerable reduction in capital gains taxes for the purchase of such assets as well as a corresponding boost to liquidity for the owner.

Qualified opportunity zone investments are real estate developments and the businesses that can be developed inside their boundaries. While solar energy investments in opportunity zones provide the same tax benefits as fuel cells, the actual solar sites fail to create many jobs. Bringing new manufacturing and energy businesses that employ highly skilled salaried workers will increase property values much further.

Fuelcell Energy specifically presents a qualified opportunity zone investor the ability to purchase the intellectual property with the basis from other capital gains properties while deploying the tax favored capital gains into the final phase of industrially produced carbon capture products and materials. And of course, the research and development portion of those dollars will receive the applicable tax benefits. FuelCell Energy represents around 40% of the fuel cell patent universe and together with Exxon Mobil a majority of the money-making carbon capture patents.

Location, location, location is the mantra of real estate investing. When it comes to finding developable ground to build a new multi-industrial energy, material and hydrogen plant, there is plenty of qualified real estate in the inland port cities of the Midwest. This would also align with the US Department of Energy’s expansion efforts of the H2@Scale program. No matter the location, FuelCell Energy provides the investor a 40% reduction in federal corporate income taxes on its next billion dollars of net profits due to its $1 billion net operating loss carryforward.