Fuel Cells

The fuel cell was discovered in 1839 by Sir William Grove, a Welch judge. Fuel cells are essentially batteries that can be refueled. They combine hydrogen and oxygen in a catalytic reaction that produces electricity, water, and heat. This is exactly the operation of electrolysis, wherein electricity introduced to water separates it into hydrogen and oxygen. The defining characteristics of a fuel cell are its: Fuel, Electrolyte, Catalyst, Operating Temperature, Efficiency, and Power Density. A fuel cell is generally named after its electrolyte.

The fuel of choice for stationary and vehicle fuel cells is hydrogen. Hydrogen stores approximately 2.6 times the energy per unit mass as gasoline. The disadvantage is that it needs about 4 times the volume for a given amount of energy. A 15 gallon automobile gasoline tank contains 90 pounds of gasoline. The corresponding hydrogen tank would be 60 gallons, but the hydrogen would weigh only 34 pounds.

There are several types of fuel cells, divided into low temperature and high temperature technologies. Low temperature fuel cells, including phosphoric acid (PAFC) and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEMFC) fuel cells, target transportation, portable power, and lower-capacity distributed power applications. High temperature fuel cells, including molten carbonate (MCFC) and solid oxide (SOFC) fuel cells, focus on larger stationary power applications and distributed power, and certain mobile applications.

Click here to see how a fuel cell works. Click here for a synopsis of fuel cell technologies. Click here for a 37 page detailed explanation of fuel cell technology. Click here for the Fuel Cell Report to Congress.

Fuel cells were useless until British scientist Francis Thomas Bacon introduced an alkaline fuel cell in 1958 and licensed the technology to Pratt and Whitney for use by NASA to produce electricity and water on its space craft. NASA has been perfecting them ever since. In the past ten years the costs of producing and using fuel cells have come down twenty fold to a point where it is now conceivable to make them publicly available. Many established corporations and startups are scrambling now to bring them to market.

Consumers are just realizing that fuel cells exist. A recent poll of UK drivers determined that only 3% of them knew about fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Still, global demand for all fuel cells is projected to reach $46 billion by 2011. Venture capital is beginning to become available. In 2001 just three startup fuel cell companies received a total of $8.7 million in venture financing. In the first quarter of 2003 the total is $24.9 million. To put that in perspective, biotechnology startups received $563 million and semiconductor startups attracted $324 million in the first quarter (source: venturewire.com).

There are four primary markets for fuel cell investors:

Mobile power for vehicles
Stationary power generators for homes and buildings and cities
Micro fuel cells for cell phones, laptops, and portable devices
Hydrogen production,storage, and transport

The best market for investors today is micro fuel cells. In December 2004, MTI Micro Fuel Cells, a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Incorporated shipped the first ever commercial micro fuel cell product to a paying customer. MTI shipped “under 1,000” of its “Mobion” micro fuel cells to warehousing gear vendor Intermec Technologies for use in their radio frequency identification readers. Other micro fuel cell products should be introduced in2006 on a limited basis. NEC has a prototype lap top with a fuel cell built into to it designed to run for 40 hours before refueling. Fuel cells offer tremendous advantages over batteries for these devices. A device will run on a fuel cell much longer than one powered by a battery. When the battery runs down, it must be recharged for several hours. When the fuel cell runs down, you simply add more fuel. Portable fuel cells are expected to top $2 billion in sales in the next seven years, according to the U.S. Fuel Cell Council.

The most mature fuel cell industry is stationary power generators. Fuel cells are already being used by hospitals and businesses for back up, emergency power. The move to fuel cells as primary power sources is coming. In the past year fuel cell power plants for houses were introduced. About the size of a dishwasher, they sit in the garage and produce all the power for the home. There are approximately 5,000 fuel cell powered homes in existence today.

Peter Bos, a Pacific Palisades fuel-cell analyst, estimates that one percent of US homes will have residential fuel cells between 2006 and 2010. When fuel cell prices fall more a few years later, the units will be in half of all homes, he says, and by 2031 we'll all be off the grid.

The last market to mature will be automotive. All the major auto manufacturers have prototype fuel cell vehicles in development. About 800 fuel cell cars and buses are presently being tested worldwide. Estimates vary as to when fuel cell vehicles (FCVs)will be available for sale. Honday plans to have fuel cell cars in the showroom as early as 2009. General Motors' and Hyundai both are targeting 2010. Takeo Fukui, president of Honda, expects FCVs to perform equally with ICEVs in ten years. The Japanese Government expects 50,000 FCVs by 2010 and 5 million by 2020. GM has predicted one million bye 2010. PSA/Peugeot-Citroen recently promised FCVs in mass production by 2015. Ford Motor Co. expects half its sales to be FCVs by 2040. Other studies predict as few as 5,000 FCVs by 2010.

The numbers vary and all we know is that FCVs are coming. In the mean time, Mazda is introducing a hydrogen powered rotary engine, and BMW is introducing a "flex-fuel" internal combustion engine that will run on either gasoline or hydrogen, both in 2006. These cars are designed to bridge the gap between the gasoline powered ICEs and FCVs.