Surfaces are the immediate contact between anything in our world. Literally, every industry utilizes coatings and surface modifications in order to create surfaces tailored to specific needs, protect underlying substrates, or modify their behavior. Surface and coating technologies are essential to a large variety of different industrial sectors, including transportation, manufacturing, food and biomedical engineering, energy, resources, and materials science and technology. The present paper explains the limitations for alternative energy technologies, with a focus on fuel cell technology development and the alternative energy sector, based on the outcomes of presentations and facilitated discussion groups during a Canadian national workshop series. Options for technological improvements of alternative energy systems are presented in combination with national and international policy choices, which could positively influence research and development in the alternative energy sector. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.