What are Hydrogen Fuel Cells?

Utilising one of the universe’s most abundant elements has come a long way since early attempts to use it to power airships.

Today, hydrogen is seen as a versatile 'vector' fuel, capable of providing heat and electricity at the point of demand with no harmful emissions. Hydrogen can be created from natural gas, or from electricity. This is particulary interesting to the Highlands and Islands, where in the long-term there is the opportunity of creating hydroden using renewable electricity.

Although still in its infancy, significant progress is being made in developing hydrogen fuel cells. These battery-like cells store the hydrogen which, when combined with oxygen from the air, produces electricity. Effectively, they are self-recharging batteries whose only by-product is water vapour.

Hydrogen and fuel cell technology using renewable energy sources is being successfully demonstrated by the PURE Energy Centre in Unst, Scotland's most notherly island. Wind energy is used to generate hydrogen, which is then used to run a fuel cell, which in turn powers a small industrial unit. The hydrogen is also used to run a small fuel cell car on the island.

To learn more about hydroden and fuel cells and their various applications click here for a series of downloads:

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