State of the States: Fuel Cells in America 2011

Sandra Curtin

Summary

The report provides comprehensive state by state coverage of policies, deployments, installations and funding occurring in the past year. In its 2010 report, "State of the States: Fuel Cells in America," Fuel Cells 2000 singled out California, Connecticut, New York, Ohio and South Carolina as leaders in moving the industry forward in the U.S. These "Top 5" states continue their reign in 2011. Fuel Cells 2000 selected Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, and Texas as "Up and Coming" states to watch.

America's fuel cell footprint is growing tremendously, helping to keep the United States at pace - and even ahead in some applications - of determined and growing international competition. More than 50 MW of stationary fuel cells were either installed or purchased and 1,500 fuel cell forklifts deployed or ordered in the United States since April 2010.

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Learning Goals

Supportive state policies are helping to foster fuel cell installations, company relocations and growth to help keep the U.S. at the forefront of fuel cell commercialization, despite competition from countries such as Japan, Korea, and Germany. Continued federal and state support is crucial to moving the emerging fuel cell industry into full-fledged commercialization for a wide variety of applications and power needs.

Context for Use

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Description and Teaching Materials

View >> http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/03/f12/stateofthestates2011.pdf

Teaching Notes and Tips

A fuel cell is a device that combines hydrogen and oxygen electrochemically, with no combustion, to produce electricity. The only byproducts are heat and water. A fuel cell has a structure similar to a battery, but a battery stores electricity, while a fuel cell generates electricity from fuel. The fuel cell does not run down or require recharging. It will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied.

Fuel Cell Benefits

- Increased productivity

- Cost savings via high electrical and overall efficiency

- Fuel flexibility: operation on conventional or renewable fuel

- High quality, reliable power

- Exceptionally low/zero emissions

- Modularity/scalability/ flexible installation

- Not dependent on the power grid

- Silent operation

- Lightweight

- Rugged

- Can be used with or instead of batteries and diesel generators

- Can partner with solar, wind, and other renewable technologies

Assessment

At the discretion of the educator.

References and Resources

This report was written by Fuel Cells 2000, a program of the Breakthrough Technologies Institute.