Hydrogen fuel cells are largely used for power vehicles so far, but they could shortly find the different use: the server farms powering your internet services. Daimler, HPE, Power Innovations and also the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are expanding fuel cell use to “micro-grids” inside data centers. solar and wind power would provide the majority of the energy, but fuel cells would fill in the gap once power demand is too high or an outage leaves no different selection. corporations would not have to rely quite so heavily on diesel generators or other not-so-eco-friendly backups to cope with demand. and unlike battery backups, there is no boundary — the cell will continue running as long as there is hydrogen.
Work is starting on prototypes this year, though it’s safe to say that it’ll take a while before you see this in the field. HPE is working with its partners to tie fuel cells into its existing IT systems. this could go a long way toward completely green data centers once it’s ready, though. And importantly, it provides fuel cells a viable future even if the automotive industry moves entirely to electric cars. it may not find many mainstream uses on the road, but it could confirm your favorite social network is running although the server faces a complete blackout.
