For more than a century, Southern Californians have relied on natural gas to provide them with hot water and heat, cooking and clothes drying. According to recent study conducting by Washington Policy and Analysis for the American Gas Foundation, substantial growth in the use of gas is forecasted for the near future. The most environmentally safe and abundant of all fossil fuels, natural gas is quickly proving itself as an adaptable source of energy for these and other new technologies Predicting that demand for natural gas will expand by 60 percent over the next 20 years, the study foretells of a future with cleaner air and less pollution for everyone. In fact, use of natural gas will help to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ease a number of other environmental concerns. At the same time, it will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which can be expensive and is a proven harmful pollutant to our environment.
Natural gas is domestically abundant, safe and reliable.
By passing the need to purchase electricity produced in power generating plants, the fuel cell will give residential and small commercial customers the option to produce their own electricity, right on their premises. Microturbines will give larger customers that same option with the added option of recovering waste heat to offset existing hot water and boiler loads. Like batteries, fuel cells use an electrochemical process to directly convert chemical energy into electricity. These fuel cells are about the size of a dishwasher and can be located directly on one's property - inside or outside. And because they are located at the user's site, they don't suffer the further energy losses associated with conventional electric distribution lines.