Fuel Cells - Environmental benefits
There are definite benefits to the environment from best practice use of a fuel cell. Primarily in that it is far more efficient than the equivalent traditional means of generating heat or electricity.
The second benefit is that it can use 'carbon neutral fuels'!
But just how large are these benefits?
Looking at the typical energy flow through a fuel cell you can see that when used as a combined heat and power (CHP) device a fuel cell can offer up to 90% efficiency.
Compared to traditional "on grid" energy, If you are using electricity from the national grid, 70% of the power available from the original fuel will have been lost before it reaches your house or business!
Fuel cells can be run on many different fuels, from pure hydrogen and oxygen for the cleanest by products to hydrocarbons and alcohols (including bio-ethanol and bio-gas) when necessary.
Click here for a technical description of fuel cells
