Fuel cells produce no harmful emissions and are up to three times as efficient as a gasoline internal combustion engine. This technology also will create new markets for existing industries including steel, electronics, electrical, and other equipment suppliers. Fuel Flexibility Fuel cells operate on a wide range of fuels. Inside the fuel cell, the system uses hydrogen. In principle, any material containing hydrogen could be utilized to provide the hydrogen.
Most fuel cells operating today use natural gas, propane, methanol or gaseous hydrogen.
But several units take advantage of renewable fuels or waste gases. Technology is under development that will allow fuel cells to be capable of operating on an even wider range of fuels, from conventional petroleum to biomass gases. The technology is developing rapidly. In stationary power, more than 40 Megawatts of fuel cell power generation capacity have been installed, with early units surpassing 40,000 hours of operation. In transportation, issues of size and weight are on the way to being solved.