Power from the Earth’s most common element

Nick Kochan says hydrogen fuel cells can generate clean energy for businesses and vehicles from a source that will never run out – but is the technology too good to be true?

The black box in the corner of the office could be a fridge or computer system. It is inconspicuous and quiet and needs no attention. Its hum is mysterious. No one could have guessed that this is the company’s emergency power supply. The black box belongs to UPS Systems, one of the country’s leading innovators in hydrogen cell technology. UPS supplies hydrogen fuel cells to companies that range from City firms to high-tech start-ups in the M40 corridor. They all work in sensitive IT sectors where power loss is critical and they need a reliable standby.

Hydrogen technology has its origins in an invention in 1839 by Sir William Grove, a Welsh lawyer and physicist. His ‘gas voltaic battery’ split hydrogen into negatively charged ions (electrons) and positively charged ions (protons). The electrons that resulted were used to create an electric current. Water is produced where hydrogen ions meet air or oxygen flowing through the other side of the cell. Since Grove’s day, chemists and technologies have applied hydrogen to power a wide range of sophisticated devices – including laptop computers, submarines, weather stations and even the Apollo missions to the Moon.

The key to modern hydrogen cells is both the quietness and cleanness of the systems, and the reliability of the energy source. No hostile foreign government can turn off the supply of hydrogen in the environment and no chemical process will stop cows emitting methane, an- other energy source for fuel cells. Tom Read, the director of the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association, is a hydrogen enthusiast: ‘We are on the cusp of a major revolution. We have the solution to climate change in our hands. Hydrogen is the most common element in the world, found in everything from the white cliffs of Dover to a ham sandwich. With fuel cells, we don’t have to rely on places like Iran and Afghanistan. The technology is proven. Hydrogen is everywhere, and the only emission is pure, clean drinking water.’

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