Commercial viability may still be a few years out, but that probably means that it's a good idea to start thinking about how to deal with it now, rather than later, to stay ahead of the curve. Rules may have to be changed to allow emerging technologies (or specifically disallow, if that ends up being appropriate). A big enabling factor is the change by DOT to allow transport of fuels in quantities that previously required a HAZMAT designation. Environmental issues must always be considered, but don't necessarily have to be show-stoppers. Here are some further reading on the technologies & companies that are developing fuel cells for use with consumer-grade products: http://www.lilliputiansystemsinc.com/ http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage6540.html http://www.mtimicrofuelcells.com/ http://www.medistechnologies.com/ http://www.fuelcells.org/news/updates.html?gclid=CJiq-5-vopcCFQWcnAodQHcgDw http://www.cleantechblog.com/2007/12/micro-fuel-cell-promise.html http://www.gizmag.com/go/5325/ http://www.ultracellpower.com/ http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/18630 JM
I have been thinking on this lately and had a link at one point to a a guy that made a fuel cell r/c car. It was not a commercial kit and it may have had the filling station built in. I believe you filled it with water and then it ran for up to 20 minutes. I think a 1/96 ship would have the room to have the fuel cell power plant and a fueling station in the hull allowing it to pull in water and perhaps filter it and then seperate the hydrogen. I wish I could find the link. When I find it I will let you know. Like Nascar's COTF we could combine the newest features like fuel cell, video navigation, and other new features and have the 'Boat of the Future'
When we were playing with fuelcells in college, they mostly had a tendency to freak out & over power everything.. causing a lot of burnt stuff.
Our experimental PEM fuel cells at school had a tendency to fry after being exposed to a couple parts per billion of sulphur or carbon monoxide contamination...and to think that those were the same brand and model of fuel cells that GM was touting as being "practically ready" for a consumer market.... I'm all for replacing batteries with regenerative (or otherwise) fuel cells however. I've had good experiences in the past with alkaline and molten carbonate fuel cells; unfortunately the latter is highly unlikely to ever be a practical battery replacement for our purposes here.
