A fuel cell is a kind of miniature power plant. It makes electricity by combining
hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction. Since the fuel cell generates electricity
directly, without burning hydrogen, it is both clean and extremely efficient. Theoretically,
if you calculate that a fuel cell can convert 83% of hydrogen energy into electrical
energy, we can look forward to extremely high efficiency compared to the maximum
of 30% to 40% possible with a petrol engine. Fuel cells produce no CO2 or harmful
emissions – the only by-product is water.
While the technology is still rather new, it does have the potential to address
many energy and environmental issues.