A fuel cell works similarly to a battery, generating electricity through an electrochemical reaction. Fuel cells can operate by utilising numerous differing fuels, hydrogen being the most common. Utilising hydrogen fuel cells only emit water and heat, making them an excellent environmentally friendly alternative to current transportation.

Let’s dive inside a fuel cell and understand how it works – Fuel cells include two electrodes, one negative (an anode) and one positive (a cathode), which work in conjunction with an electrolyte membrane. Fuel, such as hydrogen, is fed to the negative electrode and oxygen to the positive electrode. Hydrogen, separated into protons and electrons, take different paths to the positive electrode, generating electricity. Then it is mixed with air oxygen to produce water and heat. The amount of electricity emitted depends on the type of fuel cell: its size, the temperature at which it operates and the pressure at which the hydrogen gas is supplied to the cell [4].

Figure 2 demonstrates how fuel cells work in a vehicle, depicting that the electricity generated by the fuel cell is either directed to the battery or electric motor, which consequently allows your car movement by turning the wheels [5].

Hydrogen fuel cells have been around for longer than you think and aren’t limited to vehicles; they’ve been used to provide non-stop power for data centres, telecommunications towers, hospitals, emergency response systems and military applications [6].

One example of hydrogen fuel cell applications is forklifts. In the United States, there are over 20,000 hydrogen-powered fuel cell forklifts. They have been utilised in warehouses and manufacturing facilities, offering increased performance, refuelling in a matter of minutes and zero emissions in the warehouse [7].