The "hydrogen economy" is well over-hyped. I'm disappointed that President Bush has added to this state of affairs. The basic problem with the hydrogen economy is that it is extremely dangerous to transport hydrogen. (Remember the Hindenburg?). For the forseeable future, fuel cells will be powered by gasoline. Although this will have some advantages (less noise than gasoline engines, less pollution), it is not a renewable energy source. Fuel cells will not reduce the amount of energy consumed.
As for Plug Power, they have some real problems. As Michael Murphy has pointed out, fuel cells have a difficult time handling transient requests for power. They deliver power at a steady rate. Sudden increases in load can actually cause a fuel cell to shut down. This problem can be finessed in a fuel cell-powered vehicle, because there is a fly-wheel present to smooth out power requests. One of the first practical applications for fuel cells will be to power cars and buses (using gasoline).
Because fuel cells do no handle transients very well, Plug Power's device are intended to operate as a supplement to the power grid. If you loose power to your house, then your fuel cell doesn't work. Also, they are underpowered to handle a house with air conditioning or a heat pump. Plug Power's products are designed to work with the typical house in Schenectady, NY. (i.e. gas heat and no summer air conditioning.) This doesn't look like a good market to me.
The hydrogen economy will only make incremental improvements to economics of energy. The real improvements will come from the compound semiconductor industry (GaA, SiC and GaN). |
