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Issue 7, 2009
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Fuel cells for micro-combined heat and power generation

Adam Hawkes,a   Iain Staffell,b   Dan Brett*c  and  Nigel Brandon*a  
Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, UK
E-mail: n.brandon@imperial.ac.uk, a.hawkes@imperial.ac.uk
Fax: +44 (0)20 7594 7444
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 5704

b Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
E-mail: staffell@gmail.com
Fax: +44 (0)121 414 5324
Tel: +44 (0)7940 329 303

c The Centre for CO2 Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, UCL, London, UK
E-mail: d.brett@ucl.ac.uk
Fax: +44(0)20 7383 2348
Tel: +44(0)20 7679 3310

Abstract

Micro-combined heat and power (CHP) holds great potential for lowering energy cost and CO2 emissions in the residential housing sector. Of the various micro-CHP technologies, fuel cells, and in particular solid oxide fuel cells, show great promise due to their high electrical efficiency and resulting low heat-to-power ratio that is better suited to residential applications. However, fuel cells are still under development and the capital cost of units available today remains high. This paper looks at the technological aspects and operating modes of fuel cells relevant to micro-CHP as well as examining the state of commercial development, life cycle issues and the techno-economics of fuel cells for micro-CHP at the residential scale.

Graphical abstract: Fuel cells for micro-combined heat and power generation

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Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/B902222H
Submitted
02 Feb 2009
Accepted
30 Mar 2009
First published
14 Apr 2009
Energy Environ. Sci., 2009,2, 729-744
Article type
Review Article
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Fuel cells for micro-combined heat and power generation

A. Hawkes, I. Staffell, D. Brett and N. Brandon, Energy Environ. Sci., 2009, 2, 729
DOI: 10.1039/B902222H

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