What happened to household fuel cells?

As the Kyoto deadline approaches and the fear of a future of nuclear power sets in, one alternative, the hydrogen fuel cell, has been relatively neglected.

A new study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) outlines that the development of hydrogen fuel cells has been ignored through insufficient support from industry and government.
 
"Fuel cells are a genuine 'clean' technology," says one of the study's investigators, Professor Chris Hendry of the Cass Business School, London.
 
"But re-investment in nuclear technology is likely to squeeze out the investment necessary to make fuel cells competitive with existing energy sources and with other non-nuclear alternative energy options."
 
The study offers insights into why fuel cell technology has been dubbed a ‘disruptive innovation’, hindering its development.
 
If effective, the technology could overturn the market and be radically different, but often begin life being not performing very well.
 
An example of fuel cells being disruptive and radical is in the automotive industry and in stationary power.
 
Disruptive technology results in creating a fear in the industry, which resist its development, and because of a shaky beginning, profits are not immediate.
 
For example, interviews with companies from countries pursuing the technology, the UK, Germany, North America and Japan, show that the fuel cell industry is lagging behind in some places.
 
The UK has a relatively strong fuel cell industry reflecting the interests of oil and gas companies in fuel cell components, and university research has led to the formation of new firms.
 
Yet there are few government efforts to create a market for fuel cells and the industry chain remains generally undeveloped.
 
Germany, however, holds 75 per cent of the fuel cell installations in Europe due to a stronger supply chain as well as technological excellence in engineering and electronics to support the overall design of fuel cell systems.
 
The authors say that Germany and Japan have the most favourable conditions for the technology to power people’s homes, and both may become lead nations in both the technology and market development.
 
Buses were a promising test-bed for fuel cells, but as the authors point out, “large technical systems like transport and power generation are embedded in institutional and economic commitments which fuel cells will have to overcome.”
 
All in all, integrating fuel cells into buses has received a lukewarm response, as the bus market is unsupportive in providing a viable niche for the technology.
 
"The role of a clear guiding vision and political will," the authors say, "is illustrated by Japan, which has bypassed bus demonstrations in favour of building a fuel infrastructure that can be used by the automotive industry to support the development of cars."
 
The study is co-written by Professor Hendry, Dr Paul Harborne, James Brown and Professor Dinos Arcoumanis.

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