Hydrogen fuel cells are promoted as the holy grail for American automotive companies. The promised breakthrough technology that will solve our dependence on fossil fuels while keeping American automakers, and their partner “Beyond Petroleum” companies, rolling in dough - that is, as long as they’re able to postpone the transition until they can dominate the means of production and infrastructure. Yet, due to various issues such as engineering, industrial transformation, economies of scale, etc., their practical application and availability for the average consumer is still sometime in the future…near, but still the future. The company Cenergie however, is looking at stationary hydrogen fuel cells to produce clean electricity for commercial and industrial buildings, municipal grids, micro-grids, independent communities, mobile generators, marine and other stationary applications. And they are poised for some success, already expanding their manufacturing and initiating the installation of their hydrogen based Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) systems in the UK, France, South Korea and Washington state. Now they are moving into the California energy market to push Clean Hydrogen as a solution to fossil fuels at competitive pricing.

Dominant non-renewable energy production, such as turbines, cost about $400 per kilowatt hour to manufacture. Solar costs about $2,000 per kilowatt hour and is currently dependent on a finite resource, silicon. It is also a resource that is dependent on areas where there is cheap hydroelectric power for its manufacture creating a number of environmental justice issues related to its production. Cenergie’s fuel cell technology is priced at about $440 per kilowatt hour to manufacture, and will decrease in price based on economies of scale. They estimate that in about 5-7 years, the price will be $250 - $300 per kilowatt hour to manufacture. View that decrease in cost with the continued rise in both the economic and environmental cost of petroleum and clear winners emerge quickly. In essence, these zero-emission Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC) are more than price competitive with fossil fuel technology. In addition, their technology contains no noble metals (such as platinum, currently one of the biggest cost hurdles for all other types of fuel cells), is manufactured using recyclable commodity materials, is 80% refurbishable into more fuel cells and they assert that the only emission is .5 liters of pure water per kilowatt hour (in the form of water vapor). The most intriguing aspect in my mind, is that it would eventually allow for independent localized energy sources, not reliant on grids or power lines.

A fuel cell is an electro-chemical generator that combines hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) to create electricity. Essentially, as the H2 and the O2 pass through their respective anodes and cathodes, they release their electrons in order to bind together and form H2O, water. The released electrons are captured and conducted out of the cell as electricity while the H2O is released as hot vapor which can be condensed into its liquid form or used as steam in a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) system.

CO2 Scrubber

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, making up more than 90% of all matter. On Earth, it is the third most abundant element in the Earth’s surface, found in water and all organic matter. Because you need pure hydrogen for the fuel cells to work, Cenergie is sourcing clean hydrogen. Using zero-emission, non-incineration pyrolysis and anaerobic digester partner technologies they can convert locally collected municipal, commercial, industrial and agricultural waste into H2 and commodity carbon ash, as well as using partner solar and wind technology to split water into H2 and O2 through electrolysis. Additionally, because a fuel cell also needs pure oxygen, the O2 injection loop scrubs atmospheric O2 clean of CO2 and other particles. Rather than injecting the CO2 into the ground for future generations to deal with, this captured CO2 can be used to feed algae for bio-diesel, feedstock and fertilizer or in hot-house food production. A company called Novomer is currently commercializing new ways of utilizing CO2 to produce high-performance, green plastics and polymers and is also examining the re-use of sequestered waste CO2. Cenergie is also looking at steam reformation of landfill methane into hydrogen, essentially utilizing a resource that is currently being wasted and contributing to climate change. This waste gasification provides the lowest cost energy, coming in at ($US) .07 per kilowatt as opposed to .22 for direct hydrogen from fossil fuels (transported) and .15 for natural gas reformation to hydrogen. Methane reformation to hydrogen comes in around .08 to .09 per kWh and electrolysis pricings are currently being explored.

Pyrolysis Unit

Cenergie’s strategy in the energy market is to keep the technology and sell the energy that they produce to cities and utilities in fixed price 10-year power purchase agreements which allows them to control maintenance, repair, replacement and material recycling. The long term price agreements are possible because the company is 100% vertical, uses commodity materials (making them less vulnerable to supply chain price fluctuations), and regularly recycles those materials into newer, more efficient fuel cells while keeping the materials from the landfill. The fuel stacks are supposed to be easily replaceable, quick start and modularly designed to avoid outages should any single stack fail. Most importantly, Cenergie asserts that they can be mass manufactured and price point competitive to current energy production.

Right now, Cenergie is looking to raise a few hundred thousand U.S. dollars to set up further operations in California where they already have a 90% complete Initial Manufacturing Plant in Riverside County and plan to have three Mass Manufacturing Plants throughout California that will produce over 750 megawatts per year per shift at the end of their 5-year ramp-up. This seems a small investment if indeed they are able to accomplish all that they promise; 24 hour constant base-load energy that is cheap, clean and silent, highly efficient, easy to operate, low temperature, flexible, recyclable and reliable with zero emissions and no noble metals. Let’s hope it’s not too far away.