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05/01/2006 10:29 AM Toyota FCHV PEM FC fuel cell vehicle The first hydrogen refueling station was opened in Reykjavik, Iceland in April 2003. This station serves three buses built by DaimlerChrysler that are in service in the public transport net of Reykjavik. The station produces the hydrogen it needs by itself, with an electrolyzing unit (produced by Norsk Hydro), and does not need refilling: all that enters is electricity and water. Shell is also a partner in the project. The station has no roof, in order to allow any leaked hydrogen to escape to the atmosphere. There are numerous prototype or production cars and buses ; Ba. 7 “ based on fuel cell technology being researched or manufactured. Toyota FCHV PEM FC fuel cell ve Research is ongoing at companies like DaimlerChrysler, Ballard Power Systems, Ford, Volvo, Mazda, General Motors, Honda, BMW, Hyundai, and Nissan, among many others. A practical commercial fuel cell automobile is not expected until at least 2010 according to the industry. Currently, a team of college students called Energy-Quest is planning to take a hydrogen fuel cell powered boat around the world (as well as other projects using efficient or renewable fuels). Their venture is called the Triton. Fuel cells are often considered to be very attractive in modern applications for their high efficiency and ideally emission-free (see renewable energy) use, in contrast to currently more common fuels such as methane or natural gas that generate carbon dioxide. However roughly 50% of all electricity produced in the United States comes from coal. The problem is that coal is a relatively dirty energy source. If electrolysis (a process that uses electricity) is used to create hydrogen using energy from power plants, it is essentially creating hydrogen fuel from coal. Though the fuel cell itself will only emit heat and water as waste, the problem of pollution is still present at power plants. An holistic approach has to take into consideration the impacts of an extended hydrogen scenario. This refers to the production, the use and the disposal of infrastructure and energy converters. Nowadays fuel cell stacks consist of catalysts to a very high amount. This is caused by the fact that poisoning reduces activity and thus the catalyst has to be over-dimensioned[4] (http://www. fuelcell- magazine.com/eprints/free/johnsonmattheyapril03.pdf) . Limited reserves of platinum quicken the synthesis of an inorganic complex very similar to the catalytic iron-sulfur core of bacterial hydrogenase[5] (http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/83/i07/8307notw8.html) to step in. The world reserves of platinum are insufficient (in fact, only one fourth) to support a mass conversion of all vehicles to fuel cells: a significant introduction of vehicles with present technology would therefore make the market value of platinum soar. History The principle of the fuel cell was discovered by Swiss scientist Christian Friedrich Schénbein in 1838 and published in the January 1839 edition of the "Philosophical Magazine" [6] (http://www.efcf.com/media/ep010813.shtml) . Based on this work, the first fuel cell was developed by Welsh scientist Sir William Grove. A sketch was published in 1843,and he created the first fuel cell. The fuel cell he made used similar materials to today's Phosphoric-acid fuel cell. It wasn't until 1959 that British engineer Francis Thomas Bacon successfully developed a 5 kW stationary fuel cell. In 1959, a team led by Harry Ihrig built a 15 kW fuel cell tractor for Allis-Chalmers that was demonstrated across the US at state fairs. This system used potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte and compressed hydrogen and oxygen as the reactants. Later, in 1959, Bacon and his colleagues demonstrated a practical five-kilowatt unit capable Page 6 of 8 Fuel cell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Type 212 submarines use fuel cells to remain submerged for weeks without the need to surface. Economy & Environment For more details on this topic, see Hydrogen economy. and environmental concerns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell