Competition launched to bring fuel cell technology to mass market

Fuel cells produce electricity like a battery but are fuelled like an engine or a boiler. They work by efficiently converting the chemical energy contained in a fuel directly into electricity. They are already used to power machinery, such as forklift trucks and mobile phone masts, but remain too expensive to be used more widely.

The ‘Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge’ aims to bring down the costs of fuel cell technology by as much as 35 per cent. It follows new analysis by the Carbon Trust that shows that if substantial cuts can be achieved, the global market for fuel cell systems could be worth over $26 billion (£16 billion) in 2020 and over $180 billion (£113 billion) in 2050.

"Fuel cells have been 10 years away from a real breakthrough for the past 20 years,” said Dr Robert Trezona, head of Research and Development at the Carbon Trust. “ This is a critical moment for UK fuel cell technology as emerging markets combine with technology cost breakthroughs to create a golden opportunity to launch world-beating products onto a massive global market."

Polymer fuel cells – also known as PEM fuel cells – are the most commonly used fuel cells and have the strongest prospect for carbon savings. They are based around a plastic, or polymer, membrane, which carries the ions that move electrical charge inside the fuel cell.

The Carbon Trust says current polymer fuel cell system costs are too high by a factor of at least 10 for widespread uses. These costs could be brought down in the future through volume production, but even then, it says, costs would remain too high by 30 to 40 per cent for most markets if today’s technologies are not improved upon. The Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge aims to support technology ‘breakthroughs’ that will allow high-volume costs to come down by 35 per cent. This, says the Carbon Trust, would make fuel cell systems attractive for mass markets, such as cars and buses and even heating in homes and business.

The Carbon Trust says mass-market applications could be saving the UK up to seven million tonnes of CO2 a year in 2050.

The first phase of the Polymer Fuel Cell Challenge will select up to three novel ideas, each receiving £1 million for further development and testing. If one of these ideas proves it can deliver lower-cost fuel cell systems, in the second phase of the programme, the Carbon Trust will co-invest up to £5 million in the technology to develop it commercially.

Celia Greaves of Fuel Cells UK welcomed the announcement of the fuel cell challenge. “The UK is home to a number of world class fuel cell companies and research centres, and substantive IP has already been created in this area. Initiatives such as this from the Carbon Trust are vital to strengthening the UK's position and ensuring that the UK is innovative and remains competitive in this growing global industry," she said.

The launch of the Polymer Fuel Cell Challenge coincides with a deal signed last week between aircraft company Airbus and UK-based hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer Intelligent Energy to co-operate on research to assess the potential of using a fuel cell system as an auxiliary power unit (APU) on aircraft.