South Africa's fuel cell potential

South Africa's fuel cell potential
Publication Date:23-January-2006
08:42 AM US Eastern Timezone
Source:SouthAfrica.info reporter
South Africa, the world's leading producer of gold and platinum, is
becoming an important testing ground for
fuel cells, an alternative technology that promises cleaner, more
efficient energy.


International companies such as the UK's Intelligent Energy and the
US's Power Plug are bringing cutting-
edge fuel cell technology to South Africa's rural areas.


A fuel cell is similar to a battery in that it produces electricity in
an electrochemical reaction. Unlike a
battery, a fuel cell uses external reactants, typically oxygen and
hydrogen, as fuel for the reaction. The
reaction products flow out of the cell.


This means fuel cells are more stable and can be run for longer
continuous periods than batteries. They are
also more efficient than combustion engines.


A fuel cell would generally be used only for back-up purposes. If the
regular power supply from the national
grid were interrupted, the fuel cell would kick in to provide
electricity until the regular supply could be
restored. Such backup can be critical for clinics and hospitals, but
also for banks, telecommunications and
other users of information technology infrastructure.


Technology pioneer
Intelligent Energy, a UK-based company, have installed a fuel cell at
clinic outside Bisho in the Eastern
Cape, and a larger installation incorporating solar panels at Mkuze in
KwaZulu-Natal.


The Mkuze installation uses fuel cells, batteries, solar power and
liquid petroleum gas to provide a complete
energy solution for a community of thousands. The fuel cells are the
back-up energy supply for computers
that control the other energy sources.


"We're doing it as a showcase," South African manager Sakib Khan told
Business Report.


Intelligent Energy have received numerous accolades for their work in
this field. They were named by the
World Economic Forum as a technology pioneer for 2006, and Time
magazine called their ENV bike, a
completely silent fuel cell-powered motorbike, one of "the most amazing
inventions of 2005."


Catalysts
Another company at the forefront of fuel cell production, US-based Plug
Power has installed two fuel cells at
Koeberg, South Africa's only nuclear power plant, in the Western Cape.


Cellular company Vodacom is also using Plug Power fuel cells as a
back-up power supply for cellphone
masts in Shoshanguve in Gauteng, replacing noisy diesel generators.


South Africa is an ideal site for the first tests of fuel cell systems
as the country is one of the world's leading
producers of both platinum and gold, two metals that are essential to
the hydrogen economy. These metals
are used as catalysts within the fuel cell.


"The one thing that's slowing down development is the cost," said Khan,
"because platinum is so
expensive."


"There's a lot of research going into getting an alternative to
platinum, such as gold."
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage4365.html

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