Fuel Cells Do Not Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

E-Mail to Congress:

EIN New says, "Fuel cell to provide clean power for downtown complex".

This is a deceptive announcement bordering on fraud.

The deception lies in the claims that "the building’s low energy use has carbon dioxide mitigating benefits equal to planting 180 acres of trees" and "the apartments will have 18 percent of the carbon footprint of a typical single-family home in Connecticut."

If the claimed energy saving results from improved heat insulation, the claim is legitimate, but the implication that most people will accept is that there is a reduction in carbon dioxide emission, which is not true. Carbon dioxide emission is insignificant from a geophysical viewpoint, but many people have grabbed this fad.

Fuel cells consume reactant from an external source, which must be replenished. Many combinations of fuels and oxidants are possible. A hydrogen fuel cell uses hydrogen as its fuel.

Other fuels include hydrocarbons and alcohols. If hydrogen is the source fuel, it is generated externally usually from electrochemical decomposition of water, which requires fossil fuels to generate the electricity. If methane is used directly in the fuel cell, its direct by-product of use is carbon dioxide.