A fuel cell (see schematic below) converts the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen directly to produce electricity and its byproducts water and heat. They are inherently clean and efficient and are uniquely able to address the issues of environmental and energy security. They are also safe, quiet and reliable.

  Fuelled with pure hydrogen, fuel cells produce zero emissions of carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen or any other pollutants. Even if fuelled with fossil fuels as a source of hydrogen, noxious emissions are orders of magnitude below conventional combustion engines.

  They offer significant improvements in energy efficiency as they remove the intermediate step of combustion and mechanical devices such as turbines and pistons, thereby making fuel cells not limited by the Carnot efficiency. Unlike conventional systems, they operate at high efficiency at part load and their high efficiency is not compromised by small sizes. High efficiency saves fuel and reduces CO2 emissions.