The Energy Evolution - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 22

The fuel cells used in the space program in the 1960s and 1970s were
very costly at $600,000-kW. Although some of this cost can be attributed to
the high reliability manufacturing required for space application. The cost
was far too high for most terrestrial power applications.
During the past three decades, major efforts have been made to de-
velop more practical and affordable designs for stationary power appli-
cations. Today, the most widely deployed fuel cells cost about $4,000 per
kilowatt compared to diesel generator costs of $800 to $1,500 per kilowatt.
A large natural gas turbine can be even less.
Many specialty products are designed for specific applications. One
power system from a California company called HaveBlue is designed for
sailing yachts. The system includes solar panels, a wind generator and a
fuel cell. The solar panels provide 400 watts of power for the cabin sys-
tems and an electrolyzer for producing hydrogen from salt or fresh wa-
ter. The hydrogen is stored in six tanks in the keel. Up to 17 kilograms of
hydrogen is stored in the solid matrix metal hydride tanks which replace
3,000 pounds of lead ballast. The wind generator has an output of 90 watts
under peak winds and starts producing power at 5 knots of wind. The fuel
cell produces 10 kilowatts of electricity along with steam which is used to
raise the temperature of the hydrogen storage tanks. A reverse-osmosis
water system desalinates water for cabin use and a deionizing filter makes
pure water for fuel cell use.
Other applications include fuel cell-powered forklifts that are be-
ing used in a General Motor's plant in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The
Hydrogenics forklifts have a 5000 pound lift capacity and are perfect for
indoor facilities, such as factories and warehouses, since they produce no
significant exhaust emissions, and are quite and offer significant opera-
tional advantages over battery-powered forklifts such greatly reduced re-
charge times.
This project was partially funded by the Sustainable Development
Technology Canada foundation which was created by the Canadian gov-
ernment to develop and demonstrate clean technologies that address cli-
mate change as well as clean air, water and soil quality. Also involved are
the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance and FedEx Canada, Deere
& Co. and the NACCO Materials Handling Group which assisted in the in-
tegration of the fuel cell systems into the forklifts. The forklift and refueler
project will also be used for FedEx operations in the greater Toronto area.
The fuel cell power pack includes the fuel cell power module, an
ultracapacitor storage unit, hydrogen storage tanks, thermal manage-