Fuel Cells Power Up: Three Surprising Places Where Hydrogen Energy Is Working

Hydrogen may not be fueling many cars, but it is delivering clean power for warehouses, data centers, and telcom towers.

The concept is tantalizing: Use abundant hydrogen to fuel vehicles and power plants, producing nothing but water and heat as a byproduct. The advent of hydrogen fuel cells would help provide the energy the world needs, while slashing greenhouse gas emissions and curbing our dependence on oil.

If that notion seems too good to be true, that’s because it has been. Despite a flurry of investment in fuel cells over the past two decades, the vision articulated by former President George W. Bush of an America leading the world in producing “pollution-free” vehicles that run on hydrogen has seemingly evaporated into thin air. But the fuel cell is far from dead—indeed, it is gaining a commercial foothold in some niches,

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