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Fuel cells are widely used for producing electric current from portable devices to power plants. They can be very useful for operating different isolated electric devices, space vehicles, meteorological stations or certain military facilities.

Enbridge fuel cell plant
forrás: http://www.scarborough.peo.on.ca/

Their major advantages are the light weight and the absence of moving spare parts. Since they contain no moving parts and no classical burning takes place during their functioning, they are highly reliable. This yields an estimated availability of 99.9999%, which means 1 minute of faulty functioning during the 6-year operational period of a fuel cell.

One of the latest areas of their use is co-generation power plants, which produce heat and electric energy in the same device from the same energy source. These plants are able to provide family homes, office blocks and factories with energy, heat and hot water.

The first fuel cell boat: HYDRA
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell/

The simplest area of use is obviously traffic service. The first operating fuel-cell ship called HYDRA proves that fuel cells as energy sources stand their ground not only on land, but also in water. HYDRA was constructed by a group of young engineers in Germany. The creation of the ship is related to several towns. Although the fuel cell was built in Leipzig, and the body in Hamburg, the christening was held in Bonn in June, 2000. During its operation, it transported more than 2000 passengers without any technical problems. The ship accommodated an alkaline electrolyte fuel cell (AFC), since it is not sensitive to the salty environment, and is able to start even if the temperature is below the freezing point.

Besides the water surface, fuel cells are used under the water as well. The development of submarines is aimed at building more and more powerful accumulators, however, it is more likely that the future is in air-independent propulsion (AIP). This means that – in the same manner as in earlier solutions - submarines are driven with accumulators and electro-motors, however, accumulators can be filled under water. One of the most popular solutions is the use of fuel cells. An outstanding example is the German submarine Type 212, operating with a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, produced also by the German company Siemens.

Type 212 submarine
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell/

Naturally, the fuel cells used in traffic service stand their ground in the air as well. From the point of view of air traffic, their major advantages are no or very low pollutant emission and the quite operation. Among others, the arms industry is strongly interested in them. From a strategic point of view it is advantageous that they have a relatively low operating temperature, and they can reach high flight heights.

Among two-wheeled applications, the first vehicle was the fuel-cell scooter of the American Manhattan Scientifics and Aprilia, the latter company being widely known by their motorbikes. One of the biggest markets of fuel-cell scooters can be those Asian countries where the two-wheeled vehicles are anyway popular. Obviously, their major benefit is the fact that they will not pollute further the already polluted urban air.