Energy policy has moved to the forefront of the political agenda in recent years due to the depletion of fossil fuel resources and concerns over the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. The world's future energy needs will need to be met by a mix of conventional and alternative technologies, with an increasing emphasis on renewable energy sources.

Fuel cells are electrochemical engines which convert a fuel (such as hydrogen) directly into electricity without an inefficient thermal step. They offer advantages of increased efficiency, fuel flexibility, silent operation and zero emissions when the fuel is produced from renewable sources. They can also be used on a micro/local level without loss of efficiency, thereby avoiding transmission losses associated with long distance power lines.

Fuel cells are currently in the pre-commercial/demonstrator phase and are beginning to be used in some niche markets. The three major barriers to widespread fuel cell commercialisation are the relatively high cost of raw materials and manufacturing, the lack of a refuelling infrastructure and durability of the systems in service.

In this talk Gareth Hinds will give an overview of fuel cell research at NPL and explain how the measurement and modelling techniques developed here will help to accelerate commercialisation of the technology.

Gareth Hinds is an electrochemist with research interests in fuel cells, corrosion and electrodeposition. He received a BA degree in Physics (1996) and a PhD degree in Electrochemistry (2000) from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. He spent a further two years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Trinity, working on magnetic field effects on electrochemical reactions and electrodeposition of magnetic materials. Gareth joined the Electrochemistry & Corrosion Group at NPL in October 2002 and is currently leading a number of fuel cell projects to address measurement and modelling issues in both low temperature and high temperature fuel cells. He is also involved in projects on stress corrosion cracking of stainless steel, primarily for oil and gas applications.