When I suggested that houses might run off fuel cells in vehicles, I had specific circumstances in mind. First, it is likely that FCVs will probably have at least as an option adapters to make electricity available for non-transportation use. So we'll see campgrounds and such using these things (unfortunately for peace and quiet--the fuel cells will be quiet but the portable TVs and radios won't). Second, we had a major ice storm in the NE last winter which shut down major regions of the country north of here. Similar problems occur with hurricanes, etc. Currently people bootlet electicity into their houses during crises using generators. Widespread use of FCVs would provide a better alternative, however, and eliminate a major CO problem that occurs with portable generators.
More importantly, what I really meant was that in developing areas where electrification has not yet penetrated the development of the vehicle market and the electric market will be the same thing. I don't know whether a rural village would do better plugging into (for example) a FC bus when the bus was not in use or having a stationary fuel cell running, possibly, on a tank of propane or compressed natural gas. But it seems to me that if that such a village would solve two problems with one power source. It could start by pressing a bus or other vehicle into service when not in use, and then move up to having BOTH a stationary fuel cell and an FCV.
-- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 12222
Fax 518-442-5298
-------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Colleen Lovett <clovett at mail.wsg.net> Subject: general electric & fuel cells Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 08:53:35 -0700 Size: 5648 URL: <../attachments/19980911/90e3372f/attachment.eml>