Re: Fuel cells
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They use a catalyst to split the hydrogen from the hydrocarbon, be it natural gas, methanol, or gasoline. Once they do that, the rest is just like a conventional hydrogen fuel cell.
The key is developing an affordable catalyst. The leftover carbon does come out in the form of CO2 but it's supposed to be more efficient and cleaner than buring the fuel in an internal combustion engine. Being able to use methanol or gasoline really simplifies the production and infrastructure problems of a pure hydrogen cell.
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