Fuel Cells to Help Power Grids?

Aug. 20 -- When the power grid crashed in New York and other cities across an eight-state region and in Canada last Thursday, not everyone was left in the dark. In fact, at least one building wasn't even on the grid to begin with.

While other buildings that house vital services — hospitals, local government emergency centers, radio and television stations — remained functional during the blackout thanks only to backup power generators, one New York City Police precinct in Manhattan wasn't even fazed by the sudden electrical disruption.

"We weren't affected by the blackout at all," says Dave Giordano, a community affairs officer at the Central Park Precinct in Manhattan. "We were still shining."

The secret to staying powered up throughout the blackout? For the past four years, the precinct has been generating its own power with a clean-energy fuel cell.

From Grid to Cell

Fuel cells, which use the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water, have recently received much attention as alternative power sources for both cars and portable electronics.

But experts say fuel cell power generators are also getting renewed attention from power companies as potential tools to buttress the nation's aging and vulnerable power grids.

"As we became aware, the power grid is at limits because it's fairly old and there have been no significant investments in upgrading it, even though there are increases in demands for electricity," says Reinhard Radermacher, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland.

One potential solution in which fuel cells could become central, say experts such as Radermacher, would be in an old idea called "cogeneration" or "distributed generation." Cogeneration calls for installing smaller power generators closer to where the demands for electricity are — such as within growing urban centers or even inside individual homes.

Atakan Ozbek, director of energy research for Allied Business Intelligence in Oyster Bay, N.Y., says the idea makes sense — especially in light of the problems with the large regional power grids that span the nation.