From hydrocarbon to a hydrogen-based economy (Part II)

"Fuel cells are devices which generate electricity without moving mechanical parts. Fuel cells can be fed with a fuel such as hydrogen, natural gas, methanol or propane and these fuels convert directly into electrical energy through an electrochemical process. The current generated is utilized in the way it is intended, as an energizer or in powering an electric motor. The efficiency in electrical conversion is twice as high as that of the usual boiler-turbine-generator combination. Their theoretical considerations have been known for quite sometime but it is only in recent years that fuel cells have been put to practical use. Fuel cells have a broad range of applications, from cell phones, laptop computers, to homes, offices and factories, to vehicles of all kinds. Fuel cells, as a component of the energy-generating system, are cleaner and less polluting since minimal quantities of carbon dioxide is produced as a by-product of the reaction. Since there is no combustion, no carbon monoxide is produced. A prototype car, which is powered by a combination of fuel cells and hydrogen gas, produces only water vapor as exhaust material and absolutely no carbon dioxide and monoxide." Source: fuelcellsworks.com