Hydrogen fuel cells: an ideal technology for the NHS?

With growing interest in alternative energy sources amid growing pressure for economies worldwide to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, Eric Thomas, a former head of Environmental Management and Engineering at NHS Wales Shared Services, Specialist Estate Services division, and Guto Owen, a specialist in hydrogen and fuel cells, discuss the potential for wider adoption of hydrogen fuel cell technology as a source of power in NHS buildings, and in associated transport applications.

Fuel cells have been around for many years, dating back to 1838, when a Welsh scientist, William Robert Grove, published a paper on the basic principles of the science relating to the possibility of a fuel cell, and in 1839 developed the Grove Voltaic Cell. This basic fuel cell consisted of a number of tubs of oxygen and hydrogen, together with a platinum foil and an electrolyte. The cell generated electricity, and he called it a gas voltaic battery.

It was some time before fuel cells were used commercially, and a great step forward was made in 1932 by Francis Bacon with the basic principles of the hydrogen fuel cell as we know it today, and the possibility of other types of fuel cells using different fuels. The alkaline fuel cell, in particular, had considerable success in the space sector from the 1960s to the present day, powering many types of satellites and space vehicles