The use of a fuel cell to power a vehicle is not a new concept but one which is not currently in wide use. The world’s first fuel cell was in fact invented by British Scientist Sir William Grove in 1839 and this type of technology was successfully used by NASA for the Apollo programme.
A fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity which in turn powers an electric traction motor in the vehicle. The hydrogen is usually the only part of the fuel which needs to be stored as oxygen is taken from the air. From an environmental point of view a hydrogen fuel cell is an ideal sustainable fuel as the only emissions are heat and water vapour. As long as the hydrogen is produced using a renewable energy source such as solar or wind power, the fuel leaves no carbon footprint. Our hydrogen fuel page talks more about the hydrogen itself.
Currently fuel cell vehicles are not commercially available although this could change due to the environmental benefits over traditional fossil fuels. Vehicles can be purely run by fuel cell or be a hybrid system which uses a battery for peak power loading. The technology is currently very expensive and there is no refuelling structure in the UK. Storage of hydrogen is also an issue as the compressed gas requires large storage tanks.
Hydrogen fuel cells were in fact trialed in London and a number of other European cities between 2004 and 2006. The scheme in London was so successful that ten hydrogen buses (five fuel cell buses and five with hydrogen internal combustion engines) are being introduced in London by 2010. More details can be found on the Transport for London website.
For more information on fuel cell technology visit the trade association website, Fuel Cells UK.
