Hurricanes and Fuel Cells

While the hurricane season started in May in the northern latitudes and with a very mild hurricane season so far, it is easy to ignore the threat they face in countries like the Bahamas, Mexico, and the United States.  However, as the main weather organization in the United States, NOAA (national oceanic and atmosphere administration), points out, in 2021 the repair bill from all of the tropical weather systems was 5Bin the United States. According to NOAA, that made it the third most costly year since the government began to keep records.

However, while the destructive power of hurricanes is a fact of life for many people, another sad fact of life is the following sentence from a NBC News article: “Portable generators, which emit carbon monoxide, are among the deadliest consumer products.”Sadly, it has happened numerous times overthe past few decades wherepeople tried to prepare for hurricanes by buying portable fossil fuel electric generators, but many of those people ended up killing themselves because of the pollution that burning fossil fuels creates.

While that is an incredibly sad truth, it is also not one that people have to live with going forwardthanks to hydrogen fuel cells.  In fact, the T-2,500 PEM fuel cell that we sell is actually designed to electrify off-grid locations as well as locations that need a reliable backup power system. The T-2,500 is a hydrogen fuel cell so its only emission is watervapor. This makes it a perfect companion to use in a home or other enclosed space during a storm, since such a setup would not result in a homeowner accidentally killing herself due to fossil fuel pollution.

Additionally, the water vapor emissions of a fuel cell are also useful during a storm,since theycan be collected to supplement the available water supply to those who are shut-in because of a storm. It is commonduring a hurricane for a municipal water supply to become temporarily unavailable, which means that fuel cells can provide a life-saving source of waterduring an emergency event.

It also helps that the hydrogen for the T-2,500 PEM can be stored safely in the metal hydride canisters that we sell, andproducing the hydrogen to fuel the system is also easy with the electrolyzer that we offer.By combining all of those components a person can not only power her house during a storm and get some drinking water during the process, but such a setup would enable a person to disconnectpermanently from the electric grid if desired. A permanent setup would greatly benefit from a couple of solar panels on the roof a person’s home to augment electrical production while using the electrolyzer to fill up canisters with hydrogen.

Whether to power a remoted controlled FCEVor to power a home or business, the Fuel Cell Shop and hydrogen fuel cells are here to help!