Hydrogen Fuel Cell

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell could revolutionize the world. This ingenious technology, which creates electricity from the chemical reactions of hydrogen and oxygen has, in its 150-year history, passed many of the critical tests along the path from invention to innovation. Recent developments in fuel cell technology and concurrent developments within the energy and automotive industries have brought the world to brink of the fuel cell age and the hydrogen economy.

The future is, however, inherently murky. Fuel cells still face significant technological, political and economic hurdles before they can realize their truly awesome potential. An examination of these hurdles, set to the backdrop of an explanation of the current state of the art in fuel cell technology and the current and developing economic and regulatory landscape, will provide insights into much touted future of the fuel cell. In the near future, the fuel cell will come to play a much more prominent role in the world energy economy. The extent to which this innovation will revolutionize the world will depend on any number of technological, economic and political factors.

In order to understand the potential impact and resulting policy implications of the fuel cell, it is first necessary to explain the technology of the fuel cell. The fuel cell utilizes the chemical properties of hydrogen to produce an electrical current. "...[T]hey produce an electric current by intercepting the electrons that flow from one reactant to the other in an electrochemical reaction."1 Fuel cells require only a fuel containing hydrogen and oxygen, usually from atmospheric air, to produce electricity. A fuel cell that utilizes pure hydrogen produces this electricity le...

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... Tax leads to burial at sea," New Scientist, 3 August 1996.

"English Conference of the Parties," Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change." http://www.cnn.com/SPECICALS/1997/global.warming/stories/treat/index4.html

"Cleaner Energy," The Economist. 18 April 1998. p17.

Ibid.

Ibid.

"Climate Change Information Sheet 24," UNFCCC Climate Change Information Kit. http://www.unfccc.de/resource/iuckit/fact24.html

"Emission Summary for CO2 in United States of America," United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change. 11/18/99. http://www.unfccc.de

The Economist. 18 April 1998.

New Scientist, 3 August 1996.

"Fill'er Up: With Hydrogen," Reuters, 16 August, 1999. Available on Wired News, http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,21293,00.html.

"Fuel cells meet big business," The Economist. 24 July 1999.

Ibid

Ibid

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