FUEL CELLS FROM ETHANOL
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) announced that Caterpillar Inc. had been awarded a $2.5 million cost-shared grant for the design, fabrication, and demonstration of the nation's first commercial Ethanol powered fuel cell. Caterpillar, working with Nuvera Fuel Cells, a fuel cell developer, and Williams Bio-Energy, an Ethanol producer, will develop a 13-kilowatt Ethanol-fueled PEM stationary fuel cell system. The fuel cell will power the Williams Visitors Center in Pekin, Illinois. The DOE grant was announced by President George Bush as part of an effort for government to partner with academia and the private sector to promote efficient energy applications.
Fuel cells require a source of hydrogen to produce electricity. Fuel reforming - which uses an electrochemical process to extract hydrogen from fuel - offers a practical solution to that challenge. Hydrogen can be reformed from Ethanol, a renewable domestically produced fuel. In addition to its environmental benefits such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Ethanol is easier to reform than gasoline and most alternative fuels because of its relatively simple molecular structure.
"Williams is proud to be a partner in this ground breaking venture," said Ron Miller, president of Williams Bio-Energy.
"This demonstration project provides a great opportunity to showcase Ethanol's capability in fuel cell applications." |
