[Environment Report]:Fuel Cell Cost-Cutting


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Environment Report.

Researchers say they have found a way to reduce the cost of somefuel cell production. The researchers are from Tufts University inthe American state of Massachusetts.

Fuel cells create heat and electric power without pollution. Fuelcell technology uses hydrogen to create electricity. Hydrogen gaspasses over a metal, like platinum or gold. Electrons from thehydrogen separate to form electricity. Proton particles that remainin the atom combine with oxygen to form water.

Some fuel cells require a lot of metal. And platinum costs evenmore than gold. Prices went up at the beginning of this year. Thatwas after President Bush said the government would spend more thanone-thousand-million dollars on fuel cell research.

But the scientists from Tufts say their findings could savemillions of dollars. Their work involved the agent that causes thechemical reaction used to make hydrogen. Normally that agent isabout ten percent gold or other costly metal.

The researchers used a chemical to slowly remove the gold fromthe agent. They discovered that the agent remained effective evenafter they removed ninety percent of the metal.

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos is a professor of chemical andbiological engineering who led the work. She says it will helpresearchers find a way to produce clean energy from fuel cells in acost effective way. Another scientist says they must continueresearch to learn if smaller amounts of costly metals will work inother fuel cell processes.

The National Science Foundation provided money for the research.The findings appear in Science.

That publication also reported about a new, less costly agent formaking hydrogen. The report says scientists at the University ofWisconsin made the agent from tin, aluminum and nickel. They say theprocess works as well with these as it does with platinum and othermetals that cost much more.

Some automobile makers have tested hydrogen-powered vehicles. TheAmerican space agency has used fuel cells to produce electricitysince the nineteen-sixties. But cost is an issue. Currently,hydrogen costs four times more to produce than gasoline. And fuelcells cost ten times more than traditional gasoline-burning engines.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by CatyWeaver.

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