Home Fuel Cells Coming to Japan

" ... Matsushita ... will claim first place in the race to put commercial home fuel cells on the market ... "

" ... can optimally provide 70 percent of the energy needs for a 1,280 square foot house with four people ... can reduce energy consumption by 22 percent and CO2 emissions by 12 percent as compared to all other power sources ... ".

" ... in this case, the cogeneration home fuel cell hooks up to the city’s natural gas lines, extracting hydrogen from the gas in a fuel-processing device ... hydrogen is combined with oxygen through a series of polyelectrolyte membranes, a process that creates electricity, heat, and water ... home fuel cell produces between 500 watts and a 1 kilowatt of electricity and captures the heat to warm a tank of water, used for showers, dishes etc."

" ... a contribution to Japan’s goals of reducing global CO2 emissions 50 percent by 2050."

" ... fuel cells require a great deal of energy; for example, this unit contains more than 2,000 components. Whether the production of the units negates the energy and CO2 savings gained by customers is unclear."

Check out this video ...

Via: Mother Nature Network LINK