Fujitsu installs hydrogen fuel cell on Sunnyvale campus

Always down for a little self-glorification, Fujitsu has just announced that it has become the "first Silicon Valley company to install hydrogen fuel cell power." The firm reportedly "dedicated a hydrogen fuel cell on its Sunnyvale campus," which aims to provide "clean, efficient power for the campus data center and other operations" and substantially curb carbon dioxide emissions. The UTC Power PureCell Model 200 system will provide half of the energy necessary to cool the campus data center and labs, and Fujitsu claims that it will have a payback "of about 3.5 years and a lifespan of closer to 15 years."

[Mike Corrales @ Aug 17th 2007 9:03PM]

This is a great idea, but it makes one wonder... If the payback really is only three and a half years and the fuel cell lasts 15 years, then why didn't Fujitsu purchase a second system to power 100% of its data center?

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 18th 2007 1:06AM]

Because purchasing one fuel cell generates about as much positive PR buzz as two fuel cells- at half the cost.

[Mike Corrales @ Aug 18th 2007 1:43AM]

Good point! In that case, order me half of one.

[rotasman @ Aug 17th 2007 9:06PM]

Doesn't help that it takes more energy to produce the hydrogen than the fuel cell will produce from the hydrogen. It would have been better to install solar cells. Nice try Fujitsu.

[Craig @ Aug 17th 2007 9:23PM]

exactly. they're boasting about using clean power, but the only difference is that the CO2 emissions come from the "hydrogen-making plant" (whatever it's called ^^)

[Adam @ Aug 19th 2007 3:38AM]

This is actually a pretty interesting device. It runs on natural gas (or something called anaerobic digester gas) which is then converted to hydrogen and run through the fuel cells. I was doing research a while back on using natural gas to generate electricity at home and determined that using microturbine technology to generate the electricity, you could cut your energy costs by about 75% (not bad for those of us that have a $400 + utility bill in the summer). I've been trying to find alternative energy sources to save money for our neighborhood and this may be a practical solution (while we wait for the $/watt of solar to come down).

[Adam @ Aug 19th 2007 3:38AM]

Oh, and I just noticed this

"Free fuel"
That’s what anaerobic digester gas (ADG) is for the PureCell™ Model 200 solution. ADG is a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process and contains methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases.

[Sylvan @ Aug 18th 2007 4:23AM]

Up here in Chico, CA (definitely not Silicon Valley area - we're in the actual Northern California) Sierra Nevada Brewing has been operating multiple Hydrogen fuel cells for a couple years now to help power their brewery. Strikes be as a bit odd that a brewery can implement technological improvements years before steps are taken by a 'technology' company, especially when they're promoting their early implementation.

[Preston L. Bannister @ Sep 25th 2008 3:39AM]

Not odd at all that a brewery would use fuel cells before a "technology" company. Breweries generate large, consistent quantities of waste organic material ("stillage"). Stillage has to be disposed of (a cost) or repurposed (a profit). Seems natural that some folk have looked at generating methane from stillage: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=STILLAGE+methane

[kevin @ Aug 18th 2007 9:08PM]

Meh, The highschool I went to has had one of the UTC Fuelcells for years now. Good for when the town looses power in a natural disaster situation

[Sunnyvale California @ Oct 5th 2007 9:05AM]

a fuel cell works by catalysis, separating the component electrons and protons of the reactant fuel, and forcing the electrons to travel through a circuit, hence converting them to electrical power.