Summary of Approach and Rationale Rationale

Until only a few years ago large-scale production of fuel cell devices was prohibited by the high cost of raw materials. Thanks to advancements made at our National Labs these costs have dropped considerably and have made possible the commercial production of fuel cell systems. Once commercialized, these Proton Exchange Membrane, or PEM fuel cell power systems will revolutionize the concept of distributed generation. The approach for this project is to integrate a PEM fuel cell stack, diesel reformer and balance of plant to provide clean and efficient grid-quality electricity to remote areas of Alaska. The goal is to demonstrate a cost-effective and efficient system that when commercially introduced will replace inefficient, polluting diesel generators in remote areas