THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 6, 1996 TAG: 9605040038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
LIVE GREEN and be clean and environmentally responsible. Maybe buy a fuel cell?
Probably not yet; they're still too expensive for all but industrial applications. But one day, perhaps soon, fuel cells that operate on hydrogen gas, natural gas or methanol could power your home, run the family car or replace batteries in your personal and laptop computers.
According to Robert R. Rose, executive director of the Breakthrough Technologies Institute in Washington, fuel cells have reached a crucial milestone. He says that across the globe, fuel-cell-driven power plants have operated continuously for 1 million hours.
Later this month, a power plant using fuel cells will be installed over a Connecticut landfill. There, the cells will transform methane gas created by decomposing trash into electricity and heat.
And on May 14, German car maker Daimler-Benz will unveil a cell-driven car fueled by methanol. The methanol, stored in a specially designed tank, will pass through a conversion device. In turn, the converter will produce hydrogen, which will make enough electricity to energize the vehicle's motor.
``It's a tremendously fast-moving technology,'' Rose contends. ``No other (electricity-generating) technology combines such benefits in a single package.''
The cells have a huge environmental advantage: they pollute little, if at all. Nor are there any moving parts.
In principle, a fuel cell operates like a battery, supplying electricity courtesy of a chemical reaction between gases such as hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike batteries, the cells don't run down or require recharging. They operate as long as fuel is provided.
Interest in fuel cells is accelerating as engineers have improved cell efficiency by incorporating new materials and fine-tuning the effectiveness of the electricity-producing chemical reactions.
Rose predicts that, within five years, fuel cells could supplant batteries in certain consumer goods, like computers. And as automakers figure out how to make fuel cells affordable and easy to maintain, Rose says, the family sedan could one day operate on a hybrid system in which the cells are a key player.
Ten years down the road, fuel cells may be ready to furnish electricity to entire neighborhoods and even individual homes.
``Anything you think of that needs power, the fuel cell could be in there,'' Rose says. ``Engineering just takes time.'' MEMO: ``Tech Track'' appears every Monday in The Daily Break. Readers with
ideas for future columns are invited to contact staff science and
technology writer James Schultz at (804) 446-2599 or via
e-mail at schultz(AT)infi.net
Visit ``Tech Track'' on Pilot
Online's Fun page at http://www.pilotonline.com/
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS
A 40-foot urban transit bus powered by Ballard Fuel Cells has
performance equivalent to a vehicle powered by an internal
combustion engine but does not pollute and is quieter and more fuel
efficient.
KEYWORDS: FUEL CELL ENERGY by CNB