We all live in a modern world—a world full
of technologies that looked completely futuristic
just a generation ago.
Those modern, futuristic devices that help
get us through the day all use energy, and
to supply all of that energy, we need fuel.
Today, the technology around generating clean
renewable energy is evolving about as fast
as the rest of our modern world.
And among the most versatile examples is in
fuel cell technology.
Fuel cells provide critical energy backup
for many large facilities, and they provide
primary energy for some remote locations.
Fuel cells are even being used to power vehicles
and homes.
How does it work?
A fuel cell is sort of like a battery.
It generates electricity from the simple and
abundant hydrogen and oxygen found in chemical
compounds all around us.
And here's the cool thing: a hydrogen fuel
cell's exhaust is nothing but water.
There are several different types of fuel
cell technologies.
All are designed for specific applications,
but essentially they all work on the same
principles.
Have a look at this.
Hydrogen gas is fed into one side of the fuel
cell, and air, which contains oxygen, is fed
into the other.
Hydrogen passes through the layers of the
fuel cell, and as this happens, it induces
a positive and a negative charge, which generates
an electrical current.
Finally, the hydrogen is combined with the
oxygen and reacts to form H2O, better known
as water.
Individual fuel cells can be stacked to provide
more power.
The taller the stack, the more power it generates.
Because of this stackability, fuel cells can
be manufactured to scale for a variety of
power needs.
One important thing to keep in mind about
hydrogen: it's not an energy source itself—hydrogen
is what's called an energy carrier.
That means energy from another source can
be used to generate hydrogen.
Hydrogen then stores the energy from that
original source until it's used to power a
fuel cell.
One common way to extract hydrogen is through
a process called splitting water, where hydrogen
is separated from oxygen using an electrical
current.
Hydrogen can also be extracted from natural
gas in a process called reforming.
Although each of these methods requires some
energy themselves, once extracted, hydrogen
can generate electricity without any combustion—in
other words, a clean energy source.
One of the things that fuel cells are used
for today is as backup power sources for industrial
applications, like factories and universities.
If the power grid should go down, then these
fuel cells can be powered up to produce electricity
with no harmful emissions.
Today, hydrogen fuel cell test vehicles are
already on the road.
A local fueling station like this one contains
hydrogen that then can be used by a fuel-cell-powered
vehicle to run an electric motor.
The result is an electric car with no emissions
except water.
In the future, we could see fuel cells powering
even more homes, offices, industries, and
vehicles, supplied by a reliable hydrogen
infrastructure and supporting our nation's
clean energy economy.
Fuel cell technology: a long-term, sustainable
solution to help meet the world's need for
clean and reliable energy.
