Posted by Dave in CA [162.158.58.156] on Thursday, June 21, 2018 at 10:25:23 :
In Reply to: Re: ahead of their time posted by Joe Cimoch [172.68.54.37] on Thursday, June 21, 2018 at 07:09:36 :
Joe - I didn't how old fuel cells were, either, but apparently they were around quite awhile ago.
Per Wikipedia: A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen fuel with oxygen or another oxidizing agent.[1] Fuel cells are different from batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy comes from chemicals already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
The first fuel cells were invented in 1838. The first commercial use of fuel cells came more than a century later in NASA space programs to generate power for satellites and space capsules. Since then, fuel cells have been used in many other applications. Fuel cells are used for primary and backup power for commercial, industrial and residential buildings and in remote or inaccessible areas. They are also used to power fuel cell vehicles, including forklifts, automobiles, buses, boats, motorcycles and submarines.