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Fuel cell ‘could slash bills’
22 October 2006 (fuelcellworks.com)

- Electricity bills could be slashed by up to 40 per cent thanks to a new home generator the size of a CD…The mini domestic power station replaces the pilot light in an everyday boiler and can generate heat and electricity at a fraction of the cost of normal power…The super-green device will also more than double energy savings, its British developer, Ceres Power, claims…The generator can do all this mainly by using cheaper materials at more efficient temperatures.
- Instead of components put together with expensive platinum, the cells are made largely from stainless steel and ceramics, using fairly standard low-cost manufacturing techniques…Fuel and air create a chemical reaction at an optimum temperature of 550C, generating enough electricity in the average home to make power stations obsolete…
- Conversion of domestic boilers is said to be straight-forward, and cost about…the same as a conventional premium boiler.
- Although natural gas and oil can be used to power the cells, other fuels, including hydrogen, can be used, producing water rather than carbon dioxide as a by-product.