Fuel Cells for Commercial Applications

The use of fuel cell technology offers benefits to many applications beyond light-duty vehicles, and many of these are currently commercially viable or have the potential to be in the near term. These include material-handling equipment, construction equipment, handheld and portable power, telecom backup power, airport ground support equipment, aerospace power, and maritime power. In all of these applications, fuel cells can provide immediate benefits in terms of decreased fossil-fuel use, reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases, and delivery of new capabilities. Just as important, they can also be leveraged to facilitate the eventual introduction of fuel cell light-duty vehicles by providing experience in both fuel cells and hydrogen that helps to refine products, drive down cost, reconcile codes and standards issues, make hydrogen fuel more available, and introduce familiarity with the technology to the public. In the words of the US DOE's Fuel Cell Technologies Office Market Transformation subprogram, these near-term applications “help overcome nontechnical challenges to the expansion of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies into the broader vehicular marketplace.” The applications mentioned earlier are in varying states of commercial viability and development yet all are contributing to these goals. As experience and performance enhancements continue, the opportunity for new applications increases. Keywords: fuel cell; hydrogen; material handling equipment; hydrogen powered industrial trucks; fuel cell mobile light; fuel cell generator; portable power; backup power; airport ground support equipment; aircraft auxiliary power; HALE aircraft; maritime power; shore power; fuel cell commercialization; fuel cell economics