How it works: Fuel cells provide clean, reliable (and pricey) electricity

  • 09/05/2001

IF New York City had a power blackout, the Central Park police station would continue to glow like a beacon inside a dark forest. That's because the station gets all its electricity from a 200- kilowatt fuel cell right outside the building, not from utility lines. The fuel cell, which is about the size of a small delivery truck, produces a reassuring low hum. Fuel cells are one of the cleanest and most efficient technologies for producing electricity.