Generating electricity from rooftop solar panels or wind turbines is the start of a move to repurpose existing infrastructure - a trend that should gain momentum over the next few years. And it doesn't have to be limited to buildings. Distributed generation can also go mobile, with dramatic potential.
One of the big challenges for renewable energy is storing energy for later use, or for transport to another location. Conventional batteries have made some progress, but they don't provide industrial-strength storage. Fuel cells, on the other hand, are scaleable to serve a variety of needs, and the hydrogen they use as fuel can be transported using a number of methods. Hydrogen fuel cells hold promise for cars and other transport vehicles, but their potential goes way beyond just powering vehicles.
Berkeley professor Daniel Kammen suggests that when you fill up your fuel cell vehicle with hydrogen, the electricity generated by the fuel cell in your car can be used for just about anything. Drive to the office, hook up to a special plug-in station, and the building's emloyees can all power the office building, receiving revenue in return. And do the same thing at home.
The trick, of course, is that while hydrogen is plentiful, it takes energy to capture it for use in fuel cells. This energy might be sourced from coal, natural gas, nuclear or renewable energy. Like electric trains running from overhead lines, or subway trains runnng from an electrified third track, it makes no difference to the vehicle where or how the energy was sourced, so the options are limitless. This means the mix of energy sources might be dirty at first, especially in countries that are coal-rich, but the mix can be changed over time, without having to change the vehicles that use hydrogen cells.
The benefit with this mobile fleet of electricity generators is that they bring the energy to where it is needed, and the owners of the FCVs can offset the investment with supplementary income, which could accelerate adoption of the technology. As Kammen points out, it's a whole new way of looking at power systems.
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