Energy-Efficiency Increases - A Look to the Future

It is well known that electrochemical oxidation of a fuel to extract power can theoretically be performed in a fuel cell much more efficiently than is possible via a heat cycle. For example, a H2/02 fuel cell reaction at 25 °C has an ideal efficiency of 100%, as compared to 30-33% in standard steam cycles. Current fuel cells still require improvement, and rarely exceed 50-60% efficiency however, this already surpasses the 33% efficiency for standard steam systems [15]. Realistically, however, scaling such devices to hundreds of megawatt size presents challenges. 

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Looking to the future we have a nvunber of options, some technological and some consumer based, to reduce the impact of the energy systems and alleviate concerns over energy supply. Put very simply, one of the main technological options that we have is to increase the efficiency of the conversion process from petroleum to power, or fuel to electricity. 

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