Ethanol, biodiesel, methane, wind power or even biomass can all be converted into hydrogen - the energy needed to run fuel cells.

Today, fuel cells are too expensive and the technology still too rudimentary for widespread use. But within one to three decades, fuel cells could be running cell phones, laptop computers, cars, pickups, tractors and combines.

The emission from fuel cells is just water, leading to a cleaner world than the one now dependent on petroleum products.

The fuel cell industry is garnering more and more attention as researchers and high-tech companies join in to develop this nonpolluting, homegrown energy source. Billions of dollars are moving into fuel cell development and include an agricultural angle - the production of hydrogen from ag commodiities rather than petroleum-based products.

"Fuel cells are the battery, generator or engine replacement. That's hardware and the companies working on that are industrial companies like ourselves," said John Goodman, president of the fuel cell market sector at Entegris, Inc., a Chaska, Minn.-based high-tech materials integrity management company with global operations.

Entegris is developing advanced components and subsystems for fuel cells in portable, stationary and transportation applications and helping fuel cell developers simplify their systems, improve reliability and reduce the size, weight and cost of fuel cells.

Currently, most fuel cells are fueled by natural gas converted to hydrogen.

"In terms of hydrogen - ethanol and biodiesel could be converted into hydrogen, but with current technologies it's not going to be competitive with other forms of energy today," said Goodman.

Many scientists and researchers hope that new technologies will make it possible to create hydrogen cheaply from agricultural sources in the near future.

Fuel cell defined

A fuel cell is a device that converts hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air into electrical power via a chemical reaction, according to the U.S. Fuel Cell Council. Every fuel cell has two electrodes, one positive and one negative, called the cathode and the anode.

The reaction that produces electricity occurs at the electrodes. Every fuel cell also has an electrolyte, which carries electrically charged particles from one electrode to the other, and a catalyst that speeds the reactions at the electrodes.

Fuel cell power is generated from hydrogen and oxygen, and the elements combine to form a nonpolluting byproduct - water.<

For years, fuel cells have been used to provide power and water for spacecraft. Fuel cells are also used in submarines, spacecraft, small power generators and test cars and buses.

Commercial applications for fuel cells are just now becoming realistic as the technology improves and costs decrease.

For instance, Goodman carries a laptop that is powered by a fuel cell. The briefcase-size fuel cell runs on a cartridge of methanol - wood alcohol. When the methanol cartridge runs out, Goodman inserts a new cartridge to keep his computer running.

Goodman's company, Entegris, also installed Minnesota's first multi-kilowatt, stationary fuel cell at its Chaska headquarters. The fuel cell provides heat and electricity to one of the company's manufacturing plants.

Feeding the fuel cell

Research in fuel cells involves at least two venues - developing the fuel cell and developing non-petroleum hydrogen fuel.

According to an article from the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, the Minneapolis-based Cummins Power Generation received a $75 million grant from the Department of Energy to develop an affordable, 10-kilowatt modular solid oxide fuel cell.

The Donaldson Company, another Minneapolis manufacturer, is working with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop filtration systems that prolong fuel cell life. Minnesota-based 3M, Entegris, and several smaller companies also produce a wide range of fuel cell parts.

Research to develop cost-effective hydrogen fuel from agricultural sources continues, said Goodman.

€ Lanny Schmidt, University of Minnesota Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, recently developed technology that can convert ethanol into hydrogen.

€ Researchers hope to use an electrolyzer to convert wind power to hydrogen. The process allows wind-generated power to be stored and used when the wind isn't blowing.

€ Research continues on using hydroelectric power to generate hydrogen by electrolyzing water.

€ In regions with plenty of sunlight, scientists are looking at ways to generate hydrogen from solar power through electrolysis.

€ High-energy forest products, methane and animal byproducts, sugarbeets, biodiesel and ethanol may all serve as hydrogen energy sources in the future.

The work continues for those with a drive for commercial success as well as those who simply seek fuel cell development.

"We want to get away from converting natural gas to hydrogen, and grow energy in an environmentally and economically-friendly way in the future," said Goodman.

There are many aspects of fuel cell technology and hydrogen fuel that have yet to be worked out. The work may be difficult, but few scientists are saying fuel cell technology is impossible.

Goodman suggests taking a look at the computer and how far that's come from the 1960s, or the way automobiles came on the scene back in the early 1900s. He believes that breakthroughs in fuel cell technology will have the same type of impact on society.

One of the best benefits of fuel cell technology is offered to the Upper Midwest, where energy production may someday be exported. Goodman pointed out that in his home state of Minnesota, roughly $12 billion is spent annually importing energy.

"The Upper Midwest could not only become energy independent, but we could become net exporters using the crops that we grow to produce hydrogen when we get to the point where we are using hydrogen for stationary fuel cells and transportation," said Goodman. "There are still technology breakthroughs that need to occur in the conversion of biomass and these other products to hydrogen - both technology and economically - but I'm an optimistic person and I believe it will happen."

Goodman is a finalist for a 2004 Minnesota Tekne Award that will be presented in November. This award honors companies, individuals and innovations that make a positive impact on Minnesota's technology-based economy.