Fuel cell as a distributed generation technology

Fuel cells can convert a remarkably high proportion of the chemical energy in a fuel to electricity. With the efficiencies approaching 60%, even without cogeneration, fuel cell power plants are nearly twice as efficient as conventional power plants. Fuel cells contribute significantly to the cleaner environment; they produce dramatically fewer emissions, and their byproducts are primarily hot water and carbon dioxide in small amounts. And because of their modular nature, fuel cells can be placed at or near load centers resulting in savings of transmission network expansion. Industry has slowly begun to appreciate the commercial value of fuel cells. In addition to stationary power generation applications, there is now a strong push to develop fuel cells for automotive use. Even though fuel cells provide high performance characteristics, reliability, durability and environmental benefits, a very high investment cost still is the major barrier against large-scale deployment.