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Article: Freedom of choice: the fuel cell vehicle has a long way to go. Maybe those part electric-powered, part gasoline-burning cars will help clear the way.(Feature focus: the hybrid auto bandwagon)
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- October 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Clean, pure water dripping from the exhaust of a fuel cell vehicle, we are told, is the only waste product in an energy chain that one day will include making hydrogen, storing and transporting it, and converting it chemically into electricity. Yet, for fuel cell researchers working today, benign water turns up almost "always in the wrong place," according to Francis R. Preli of UTC Fuel Cells in South Windsor, Conn. Preli spoke at the Rochester Institute of Technology/ASME fuel cell conference held in upstate New York this past June.
In winter, the water freezes; in summer, it evaporates, Preli said. Starting a fuel cell in zero-degree weather remains an issue ...