Plug Power does sell these dishwasher-sized fuel cells for your home, but in places like India (Photo courtesy of Plug Power)
Researchers and start-up companies are looking for new ways to power the country. There’s been a lot of hope for hydrogen. But as Mark Brush reports there have been some bumps for companies on the road to the new hydrogen economy:
Transcript
Researchers and start-up companies are looking for new ways to power the country. There’s been a lot of hope for hydrogen. But as Mark Brush reports there have been some bumps for companies on the road to the new hydrogen economy:
There has been a lot of excitement about hydrogen fuel cells for awhile now.
Ten years ago we talked to a rep at a company called Plug Power. He was excited about selling a dishwasher-sized fuel cells that could power and heat your home.
“The only barrier to fuel cells is that people don’t know about them.”
Turns out, that wasn’t the only barrier.
It’s expensive to make these things, and the units weren’t as efficient at heating as they hoped they would be.
But the company is still around, and they are still hopeful about fuel cells for your home.
Andy Marsh is the president of Plug Power.
“So the industry hasn’t moved ahead as rapidly as we would like. It sometimes takes many more years to makes some progress than you had originally hoped.”
Marsh says his company is selling fuel cells in places like India, but he says fuel cells for our homes in the US are probably still three to five years away.
For The Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.