Once-hyped fuel cells are just getting started

Also, the next time a storm or other disaster short-circuits the grid power going to your local cellphone tower, fuel-cell backup power could keep you connected thanks to unhappy lessons learned during disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Traditional lead-acid battery backup devices ran out of juice several hours after the storm, disrupting first-responder communications as well as communications among families and friends. Now, many telecommunication companies are saying that hydrogen-powered fuel cells would have kept those cellphone towers working longer and more reliably.

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