MAY 03

A lot of emphasis is placed on batteries for electric vehicles, but fuel cells are another means of producing electricity that will get more attention as the technology develops further. Fuel cells offer efficient conversion of fuel to electricity. They also offer a way of combining electric drive with a system that can use portable fuels, and that may be able to overcome the "range anxiety" that is one of the obstacles to further acceptance of electric vehicles.

The good folks at Car Talk pointed us to their article about fuel cells covering both automotive fuel cells, as well as stationary fuel cells used in industrial settings. The US Department of Energy has a lot of programs dealing with fuel cells, and research is certainly moving ahead in this field in both the private and public sectors. Expect to see more about fuel cells in the coming years.

The Honda FCX Clarity, GM's Project Driveway and the Mercedes Benz F-Cell Hydrogen Electric Drive pilot programs are some of the first steps to fuel cell vehicles. But because of the very limited number of hydrogen fueling stations, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle drivers must also have their own "range anxiety" to contend with. While we usually think of fuel cells using hydrogen, other fuels such as methanol and natural gas can also be used in fuel cells. Compressed natural gas is more widely available than hydrogen, but it still takes some searching to find.

Comments (4)

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Hydrogen?
written by Charles, May 09, 2012

This is why Ecogeek is so hilarious. The above article states

While we usually think of fuel cells using hydrogen, other fuels such as methanol and natural gas can also be used in fuel cells. Compressed natural gas is more widely available than hydrogen, but it still takes some searching to find.

Can I ask? Which element in the periodic table does methanol and natural gas contain that the fuel cell uses to create electricity?

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Hopefully just a mistake
written by Corey, May 11, 2012

Fuel cells are batteries - they DO NOT produce electricity, they store electricity.
Natural gas is not renewable, and its use does release carbon that has been sequestered in the ground for millions of years.
This horribly misinformed article is hopefully not intentional disinformation, and could easily have been written by the fossil fuel industry.

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Real Fuel Cell Technology
written by Carol S., May 14, 2012

Ballard, a Canadian company, pioneered hydrogen fuel cell technology nearly 20 years ago. Buses in Chicago have been running on hydrogen fuel cells for about a decade, at a great cost saving and even better air quality. Other fossil fuels are not a ready source of hydrogen-based energy that produces only water as its byproduct. Visit the Ballard Fuel Cells website to get the correct information.

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Read the article, it is correct
written by Martin, May 22, 2012

The above commentators haven't read the article correctly. No claims where made about natural gas being carbon free. It can be used in fuel cells however, like Bloom Energy's fuel cells prove every day. Therefore the claims made are correct.

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