New U.S. researcher boosts fuel cells

PASADENA, Calif., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher has made great strides recently in the field of fuel cell research.

Sossina M. Haile, a fuel cell researcher at the California Institute of Technology and a founding member of the company Superprotonic Inc., is working to make fuel cell technology more practical.

The most efficient fuel cells need a large space and large amounts of heat, and the ones small enough for practical applications need more platinum than the earth holds.

But Haile said she has made small breakthroughs that strike a balance, Fuel Cell Works reported. She has reduced the amount of platinum needed in smaller cells. She and her team also have reduced the amount of hydrogen needed to fuel the cells.

Haile and her team have focused on developing fuel cells that run on ethanol or biomass.