The fuel cell takes water, separates the hydrogen and the oxygen and converts chemical energy into electrical energy, producing an electrical current. It is similar to a battery, but a battery can only store power whereas the fuel cell can generate it, as long as it is provided with hydrogen. This may be what environmentalists have been waiting for because the fuel cell's only by-products are water and heat.

According to Hydrogenics, the abundance of benefits the fuel cell manifests, helps solve the electrical and environmental crisis that we are just beginning to see, like the blackouts in California. The reserves for fossil fuels are finite whereas the supply of hydrogen is not.

Don't plan to pump your car with fuel cells just yet. Though it's possible that by the end of the decade hydrogen may have replaced petroleum, said Larry Burns from General Motors. Unit conversion, cost and commercialization are issues that still need to be resolved. Meanwhile, the initial target market is that of telecommunications. Hydrogenics Corporation just signed an agreement with Nextel to show the new regenerative fuel cell power generator at a cell tower site in California.

"We are extremely excited about this collaborative effort with Nextel. This significant achievement demonstrates the potential of our new alliance with General Motors," said Pierre Rivard, president and CEO of Hydrogenics. "Nextel is a global leader in cellular communications. Through this joint effort, Hydrogenics will fulfill one of its objectives toward fuel cell commercialization, which is to work with early-adopting users for whom fuel cell power is a viable proposition today. We want to test our systems in rigorous, real-life applications where the user wants the solution as much as we want the market for our emerging technology. This demonstration with Nextel provides that opportunity."