Today, technicians from Bend, Ore.-based IdaTech, a subsidiary of IdaCorp Inc., hope to complete the fuel cell installation, allowing them to begin monitoring its operation.

The 3,300-square-foot Foothills Environmental Education Center will be operated by the City of Boise´s Parks and Recreation Department and is scheduled to open sometime this fall. The facility was built to improve public knowledge of land management issues by providing interpretive information and learning opportunities.

Paul Woods , the parks department´s foothills and open space manager, said along with other features like natural daylighting and a clerestory for natural convectional heating and cooling, the fuel cell will allow the city to focus the public´s attention on energy-efficient technologies. "It´s a unique opportunity," Woods said.

What remains to be seen is how much of the facility´s power needs -- for uses like the furnace, water heater, lights and office computers -- will be powered by the fuel cell, said Idaho Power´s Scott Gates , who is helping spearhead the project.

"We´re excited to see this emerging technology come online here in Idaho," Gates said . He said the center´s fuel cell will be one of only a few in operation today in the U.S.

IdaCorp selected the center as an ideal location for a fuel cell demonstration site because the facility was developed to showcase sustainable building practices, energy efficiency and other environmentally sensitive design elements. IdaTech contributed the fuel cell itself and a fuel processor, which will be used for extracting hydrogen from natural gas provided by Intermountain Gas Co.

As a partner in the project, Intermountain Gas installed a natural gas line to the facility. Both IdaCorp and Intermountain Gas provided the funds necessary for the fuel cell installation.

Gates said by placing the fuel cell in a real-world application such as the Foothills center, the installation will act as both a research tool and a way to showcase the technology to the public. "I think we need to get these emerging technologies in front of the public," Gates said. "It´s a real building with real energy usage."

Fuel cell technology operates through a fairly simple electrochemical reaction. Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electricity by combining oxygen from the air with hydrogen gas. Unlike standard batteries, which require constant recharging, a fuel cell will not run down and will continue to produce electricity as long as fuel, in the form of hydrogen, is supplied.

Because fuel cells don´t involve internal combustion and have no moving parts, they´re a clean source of power generation. In addition to electricity, they also produce both heat and clean water as the only byproducts of the process. "It´s a very clean technology," IdaTech spokesman Alan Mace said.

Today, the most widely marketed fuel cells cost about $4,500 per kilowatt. By comparison, diesel generators cost between $800 and $1,500 per kilowatt, and natural gas turbines even less, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

"The cost is quite high compared to other technologies," Mace said.

Mace said companies involved in the emerging fuel cell industry are currently developing and refining the technology to bring its cost down.