ABSTRACT
The largest markets for fuel cells for energy generation are in stationary power, portable power, auxiliary power units, and material-handling equipment (DOE, 2012, 2013). Fuel cells convert chemical energy into electrical current and heat without combustion. According to Staffell (2015), although prototype hydrogen cars have commanded greater media attention, combined heat and power (CHP) is the largest and most established market for fuel cells. In 2009, companies began selling thousands of units per year, marking the switch to mass manufacture. As reported by Staffell (2015), nearly 60,000 systems were sold in Japan during a four-year period from 2009 to 2013. He claimed that, by 2015, residential fuel cells would be sold in Japan without government subsidies, which would make fuel cell CHP commercially viable, at least in Japan. Although hydrogen and fuel cells are not strictly renewable energy resources, their components are abundant and are very low in pollution when operated. Hydrogen, for example, can be burned as a fuel, normally in a vehicle or in a fuel cell, with only water as the combustion product.
