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Fuel Cell Basics Hydrogen News Information Resources Career & Education Message Board and Blog About Fuel Cells 2000
No other energy generating technology carries the combination of benefits that fuel cells offer. These benefits include: Low to Zero Emissions
Stationary Power
A fuel cell running on pure hydrogen is a zero-emission power source. Some stationary fuel cells use natural gas or hydrocarbons as a hydrogen feedstock, but even those produce far less emissions than conventional power plants. Fuel cell power plants are so low in emissions that some areas of the United States have exempted them from air permit requirements. Fuel cells are also very quiet, which reduces noise pollution. Based on measured data, a fuel cell power plant may create less than one ounce of pollution per 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity produced - compared to the 25 pounds of pollutants for conventional combustion generating systems. Check out a compilation of charts showing emissions from various fuel cell companies and other sources HERE.
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Transportation
Fuel cell vehicles are the least polluting of all vehicles that consume fuel directly. Fuel cell vehicles operating on hydrogen stored on-board the vehicles produce zero pollution in the conventional sense. Neither conventional pollutants nor green house gases are emitted. The only byproducts are water and heat. The simple reaction that takes place inside the fuel cell is highly efficient. Even if the hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, fuel cell vehicles can reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a global warming concern, by more than half. Fuel cells used as auxiliary power units (APUs) to power air conditioners and accessories in over-the-road trucks could reduce emissions by up to 45% from long haul vehicles, and deliver economic benefits to the truck owner in lower fuel use and less wear and tear. According to DOE, fuel cell APUs in Class 8 trucks can save 670 million gallons of diesel fuel per year and 4.64 million tons of CO2 per year.
Engine Type
CO2 g/ mile
CO g/ mile
NOx g/ mile
Gasoline ICE Passenger Car1 Gasoline ICE Light Truck1 Methanol FCV2 Hydrogen FCV2
415.49
20.9
1.39
N/a
521.63
27.7
1.81
3.51
113.40 113.40
68.04 0.00
0.016 0.00
0.0025 0.00
0.0034 0.00
N/a
N/a
2.1
0.07
0.055
N/a
N/a
1.0
0.02
0.01
Average Annual Emission for Passenger Cars and Light Trucks 2 Calculations from Desert Research Institute 3 California Vehicle Standards
High Efficiency
Because they make energy electrochemically, and do not burn fuel, fuel cells are fundamentally more efficient than combustion systems. When the fuel cell is sited near the point of use, its waste heat can be captured for beneficial purposes (cogeneration). In largescale building systems, these fuel cell cogeneration systems can reduce facility energy service costs by 20% to 40% compared to conventional energy service. Fuel cell power generation systems in operation today achieve 40% to 50% fuel-toelectricity efficiency utilizing hydrocarbon fuels. Systems fueled by hydrogen can consistently provide more than 50 percent efficiency. Even more efficient systems are under development. In combination with a turbine, electrical efficiencies can exceed 60 percent. When waste heat is put to use for heating and cooling, fuel utilization can exceed 85 percent. Fuel cell passenger vehicles are expected to be up to three times more efficient than internal combustion engines, which now operate at 10 to 16 percent efficiency. Read more about the benefits of fuel cells in transportation.
Fuel Flexibility
Most fuel cells run on hydrogen and will continue to generate power as long as fuel is supplied. The fuel cell doesn't care where the hydrogen comes from, so a fuel cell system that includes a "fuel reformer" can generate hydrogen from diverse, domestic resources including fossil fuels, such as natural gas and coal; alcohol fuels, such as methanol or ethanol; from hydrogen compounds containing no carbon, such as ammonia or borohydride; or from biomass, methane, landfill gas or anaerobic digester gas from wastewater treatment plants . Hydrogen can also be produced from electricity from conventional, nuclear or renewable sources such as solar or wind.
Security
Hydrogen can be produced from domestic sources, eliminating the need to import foreign oil. Passenger vehicles alone consume 6 million barrels of oil every single day, equivalent to 85 percent of oil imports. If just 20 percent of cars used fuel cells, we could cut oil imports by 1.5 million barrels every day. Because they don't have to be attached to the electric grid, fuel cells allow the country to move away from reliance on high voltage central station power generation which are the most likely terrorist targets in any attempt to cripple our energy infrastructure.
Modularity/Scalability/Flexible Siting
The beauty of fuel cells is their versatility - since they are scalable, fuel cells can be stacked until the desired power output is reached. Larger fuel cells can be linked together to achieve megawatt outputs. Fuel cells are quiet, which allows for siting close to business or residences. They are also durable and rugged, so they can withstand any terrain or weather conditions.
Based on UTC measured data, a fuel cell power plant may create less than one ounce of pollution per 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity produced compared to the 25 pounds of pollutants for conventional combustion generating systems. UTC Fuel Cell Annual CO2 Emissions
Source - UTC
Source UTC
6 gram/ kWh 4 2 Diesel Gen .8 g/kw h 0 GenCore 0 g/kw h CO GenCore 0 g/kw h NOx+SOx Emissions GenCore 0 g/kw h Particulate Matter
Source Plug Power (5 kW units has fielded more than 650 units)
These numbers are from: "Air Pollution Emission Impacts Associated with Economic Market Potential of Distributed Generation in California", June 2000, prepared for the California Air Resources Board (www.arb.ca.gov ) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (www.calepa.ca.gov).
Fuel Cells Can Reduce Air Pollution More Than Any Other Green Energy Resource (source FuelCell Energy) The attached chart indicates the level of reduction in power plant emissions possible through the development of green energy resources. The exhaust emissions of interest are: 1) Total Criteria Pollutants including nitrous oxides (NOx), sulfuric acid (SOx) carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and particulates. (Exposure to these pollutants is associated with numerous effects on human health, including increased respiratory symptoms, hospitalization for heart or lung diseases, and even premature death. Source: www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/6poll.html) 2) NOx Only 3) SOx Only 4) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Only (CO2 is the major greenhouse gas which has been associated with global warming.) The green energy resources are the cleanest available technologies. As indicated in the legend, the first vertical bar in each group indicates the emission level from the average fossil fuel power plant in the U.S. in units of lb/hr per MW of generation in the year 2000. The subsequent three bars represent the amount of potential emission reduction from the three green energy resources: DFC fuel cells, solar energy, and wind energy, respectively. The criteria pollutant emission rates from a DFC fuel cell are negligible, as shown below: NOx: 0.005 lb/MWh
However, as one would expect, the criteria pollutant emission rates from solar and wind energy are zero, so why is the emissions reduction less for these technologies than for DFC fuel cells? The key to this paradox is that solar energy and wind energy are intermittent energy sources. They are available only when the sun shines and when the wind blows, respectively. Depending on the part of the country, solar energy is only available 12 to 20 percent of the day on average (this percentage is often referred capacity factor, the term used in the chart) and depending on the part of the country, and the terrain, wind energy is available less than 33 percent of the time (off shore wind may be available up to 40 percent of the time depending on the location). Therefore, conventional fossil fired power plants will have to operate when these resources are not available. Put another way, these two green energy resources produce only 20 to 33 percent (in this case) of the possible emission reduction. A DFC fuel cell operates continuously and can deliver all of the possible emission reduction available from this ultra-clean technology. In fact, the level of pollution reduction from solar and wind energy in many parts of the country is even less than the values shown in the attached chart. This is because these energy sources are offsetting cleaner, fossil fired generation new natural gas fired combined cycle plants instead of the emissions from the average US fossil fired power plant which includes older coal, oil, and natural gas fired power plants. Heres why: These two green energy technologies typically operate during the day, during periods of peak electrical demand. Because of the price of natural gas is high, this is the same period of time that cleaner, new, gas fired, combined cycle plants would operate (These plants are prominent in the many of the Northeastern and Western States.) Even though these new plants have very low pollution emission rates (however, not as low as a DFC fuel cell), they are relegated to operate during times of peak electric power demand when the value of the electricity is high enough to justify the high cost of these plants. The DFC fuel cell would operate continuously and offset cleaner gas fired plants that operate during peak demand periods and dirtier coal fired plants that operate during non-peak periods.
Emission Outlook
(Direct FuelCell & Renewables - Offsets per MW of Reduced Fossil Combustion)
30 Total Pollutants, & NOx, SOx (lb/MWh) & CO2 (100lb/MWh) Emissions vs U.S. Year 2000 Fossil Generation Emissions To ta lP ol lu ta nt s (lb /M W h) U.S. Fossil Wind Energy (33 % Capacity Factor) Direct FuelCell (Ultra Clean) Solar Energy (20 % Capacity Factor)
20
24.89
10
M W h)
-2.78 -4.53
is si o ns
/M W
-1.96 -1.21
-0.96 -0.59
h)
(1 00 lb /
-2.96
-4.98
Em is si on
(lb SO x Em
-10
-8.09
-6.96
-6.04
-20
-24.71
-30
C O
N O
819,428 hrs 57% 75% $5,724,196 266.0 tons 566.2 tons 23.0 tons 34,074.6 tons
US Army Corps of Engineers