By the end of this year, the company will introduce a fuel cell that obtains hydrogen from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). 

With the market for gasoline and other petroleum products having reached a ceiling, the company aims to develop operations in fuel cells, which are a promising technology for the reduction of greenhouse gases from households, as a new source of profit. 

Cosmo Oil will offer a fuel cell jointly created with Toshiba Fuel Cell Power Systems Corp. It will have an output of about 700 watts, which is enough to cover roughly 60% of the electricity used in an average household with a family of four. 

The company will likely rent out the fuel cells for a period of three to five years for a fee of about 60,000 yen per year. The cost including fuel bills to a user household will likely be about the same as current energy expenses. 

In 2007, Cosmo Oil plans to introduce a cell that extracts hydrogen from kerosene. In developing this product, Cosmo Oil will likely collaborate with the Toshiba Corp. (TSE:6502) group. 

Nippon Oil Corp. (TSE:5001) released an LPG fuel cell in March, and it aims to develop a kerosene model in the future. 

(Nikkei)