[LINK] Ceramic Fuel Cells

[David Lochrin]

On Saturday 4 June 2011 14:59, steve jenkin wrote:

> I applaud the intent, but don't understand where the extra methane 
> is coming from, or how the gas supply network will handle the 
> demand, or be upgraded.  We already have significant 
> grid-connected gas generation capacity.

I have a related question.

The company's press release states "Since the unit was installed in August 2010 it has generated 9,283 kilowatts of power and saved 10.4 tonnes of CO2 compared to power from the local grid."

However the statement that it has generated "9,283 kilowatts" since August 2010 must be incorrect, and it should probably read "9,283 kilowatt-hours" - a blooper coming from an engineering company!

A total output of 9,283 KwH between 1st August 2010 and 31st May 2011 is equivalent to 10,071 megaJoules per quarter if I'm not mistaken.  And I believe that is very close to the average quarterly consumption of natural gas of connected households.

The press release gave me the impression that electricity generation was just a byproduct of water heating.  Or is the idea that households would generate their own electricity when needed by firing up the fuel cell, a bit like automatically firing up the shower when the hot water tap is turned on?

It's all starting to sound to me like a technology in search of a market.  It's a nice idea, but gas is still greenhouse intensive and it would be a shame to embark on some major gas infrastructure development which would whiteant sustainable energy projects.

David