Energie

Viewpoint 1
Fuel cells: maturing the market
Rail & Recherche n°32 - July/August/September 2004

Here representatives of these three groups talk about this effort.

The intrinsic advantages of fuel cells lie in two areas. First, they can supply immediate power as well as energy over an extended period.
Because they consume hydrogen and oxygen, these highly efficient electrochemical devices possess much greater autonomy than batteries. Second, fuel cells are ecological. They produce electricity and heat silently, giving off only water in the process. If fuel cell technology is to advance further, it must be asked to meet real industrial needs, hence the current experimentation in precursor markets. Such needs include increasing submarine submersion times, propelling transport vehicles, and providing back-up for wind or voltaic production. Supplying back-up power is also of interest to hospitals, banks, railways and other business sectors. This idea is being pursued in the ASIPAC (uninterrupted power supply) project. New technological breakthroughs must also be sought to decrease costs and produce hydrogen without generating CO2. This is a key goal for PEM (Protons Exchange Membrane) technology, which requires extremely pure hydrogen. Since it is more efficient and produces no CO2, this solution is especially interesting for urban transport.

Patrick Bouchard, CEO, Hélion, a subsidiary of Technicatome, the AREVA group