for something that could revolutionize
the world it’s come along very slowly
the fuel cell was invented in 1839 but
there was little development until the
1950s when NASA started to use them in
space where they’re still used today now
after years of continuous development
things are speeding up at its core the
fuel cell is very simple it uses
hydrogen the most abundant element in
the universe as fuel one type of fuel
cell uses a membrane that looks
something like plastic wrap it allows
the hydrogen’s proton to pass through
while the electron is forced to take a
different course this produces
electricity the fuel cell runs as long
as it’s fed hydrogen the cleanest and
most readily available source of
hydrogen is very easy to find its water
of course it couldn’t be this simple
somehow the hydrogen in the water
molecule must be stripped and stored and
that takes power
Peter Lehmann at Humboldt State
University in Northern California
decided to build a renewable hydrogen
fuel cell system for a research aquarium
I think the legacy of the 20th century
is that we were very good at burning
things
fuel cells offer a clean and efficient
way to generate electricity
they are totally pollution free and they
are significantly more efficient than
traditional ways of generating
electricity
he bought solar panels to provide power
to remove the hydrogen from water and
tanks to store the hydrogen fuel the
problem was the fuel cell no one
produced one that would work with the
aquarium so Peter went ahead and built
it during the day it uses power from the
solar panels but only part of that power
the rest is turned into hydrogen for use
later by the fuel cell that creates a
completely renewable full time system
the goal of fuel cell makers is to offer
totally reliable independent systems but
the competition is tough to thrive in
the marketplace fuel cell makers must
compete against the cheap and reliable
power provided by fossil fuels Peter’s
reliable fuel cell system is already
satisfied customers who are off the
power grid now he’s ready to convince
the rest of us
the world it’s come along very slowly
the fuel cell was invented in 1839 but
there was little development until the
1950s when NASA started to use them in
space where they’re still used today now
after years of continuous development
things are speeding up at its core the
fuel cell is very simple it uses
hydrogen the most abundant element in
the universe as fuel one type of fuel
cell uses a membrane that looks
something like plastic wrap it allows
the hydrogen’s proton to pass through
while the electron is forced to take a
different course this produces
electricity the fuel cell runs as long
as it’s fed hydrogen the cleanest and
most readily available source of
hydrogen is very easy to find its water
of course it couldn’t be this simple
somehow the hydrogen in the water
molecule must be stripped and stored and
that takes power
Peter Lehmann at Humboldt State
University in Northern California
decided to build a renewable hydrogen
fuel cell system for a research aquarium
I think the legacy of the 20th century
is that we were very good at burning
things
fuel cells offer a clean and efficient
way to generate electricity
they are totally pollution free and they
are significantly more efficient than
traditional ways of generating
electricity
he bought solar panels to provide power
to remove the hydrogen from water and
tanks to store the hydrogen fuel the
problem was the fuel cell no one
produced one that would work with the
aquarium so Peter went ahead and built
it during the day it uses power from the
solar panels but only part of that power
the rest is turned into hydrogen for use
later by the fuel cell that creates a
completely renewable full time system
the goal of fuel cell makers is to offer
totally reliable independent systems but
the competition is tough to thrive in
the marketplace fuel cell makers must
compete against the cheap and reliable
power provided by fossil fuels Peter’s
reliable fuel cell system is already
satisfied customers who are off the
power grid now he’s ready to convince
the rest of us
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