Abstract
This chapter gives a state-of-art of the commercialization process of fuel cells. Fuel cell technology is well established in niche market (military, aerospace) since the second half of nineteenth century, while the commercialization in a larger market is going slowly. Fuel cell systems have been under development for several decades and their applicability has been demonstrated worldwide both in small and in large scale. Nevertheless, successful commercialisation of this technology requires to overcome some barriers. This chapter reviews the main challenges related to the diffusion of fuel cells: low costs, quality and acceptance by end-users. Costs are related to the hydrogen production and manufacturing and depend also by Government’s supports. Technical issues are mainly linked to the robustness, reliability and durability of a fuel cell especially compared to internal combustion or turbine engines. Fortunately, the public acceptance of fuel cell could be easier considering that it is an environment-friendly technological alternative.
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Turco, M., Ausiello, A., Micoli, L. (2016). Fuel Cells Challenges. In: Treatment of Biogas for Feeding High Temperature Fuel Cells. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03215-3_3
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