Tommorow's power is nearly 200-year-old idea
In recent years, fuel cells have been a hot topic among federal lawmakers debating national energy policy, researchers striving to develop practical commercial models and even utilities, including West Florida Electric Cooperative, seeking opportunities for meeting consumers’ future needs. After all, this environmentally-friendly technology produces electrical power through a chemical reaction, without heat, smoke, noise or harmful waste products. But it isn’t entirely new.
In 1839, British lawyer and chemist Sir William Robert Grove, "Father of the Fuel Cell," produced the first "gas voltaic battery," producing electricity and water from hydrogen and oxygen. Over a century later, the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company produced a tractor with a 20-horsepower motor powered by what was then the world’s largest operational fuel cell unit. A year later, the company manufactured a fuel-cell forklift that could lift a 2,000-pound load. The tractor is now displayed in the Smithsonian Institution.
Since the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has relied on fuel cells to power extended missions. Today, eight of the ten largest companies in the world are involved with fuel cell technology in some respect.
For additional information, log on to the Smithsonian Institution’s History Wired educational Web site at or the fuel cell industry Web site at http://www.fuelcellstore.com.
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