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A '''fuel cell''' is a type of [[battery|electrochemical cell]] where [[hydrogen]] and [[oxygen]] are combined using electrical power to make [[water]] and energy.  Scientists discovered fuel cells in the early 1900s, and they will be important in establishing the [[hydrogen economy]].

A hydrogen '''fuel cell''' is a type of [[battery|electrochemical cell]] where [[hydrogen]] and [[oxygen]] are combined across a membrane, resulting the the formation of water and producing an electrical charge across this membrane.  The first of any type of fuel cells were designed in the early 1900s. Supporters of a [[hydrogen economy]] look to fuel cells as the principle means of generating power from stored hydrogen; however, the current technologies underlying hydrogen fuel cells require a extremely pure sources of hydrogen and oxygen to operate efficiently and for extended periods of time (see hydrogen fuel cells employed on the Space Shuttle). The most inexpensive source of hydrogen comes from natural gas, but hydrogen obtained from this source tends to come with too many impurities to be used extensively in current hydrogen fuel cells.

[[Category: ecology]]

[[Category: ecology]]