NTT Energy and Environment Systems Laboratories

Project

• Energy Systems Project

Up to now

• It's important to generate electricity efficie ntly since natural resources are limited, but thermal power generation by burning fossil fuels is inefficient and produces vast amounts of CO₂ emissions.
• s it true that thermal power generation produces huge amounts of CO₂?
• Fuel cells have been in the spotlight, but don't they use platinum? Isn't that why they are so expensive?

At the NTT

We are pursuing R&D on solid oxide fuel cells that convert chemical energy into electricity efficiently without using platinum or other expensive materials, and on a cell stack that makes the best use of the supplied fuel.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity by direct reaction with a fuel and air. Operating at high temperatures (700-800oC), solid oxide fuel cells achieve a high electrical conversion efficiency without using platinum or other precious metals as a catalyst. Because this technology uses fuel so efficiently, it has attracted widespread interest as an environmentally friendly power source. Fuel flexibility is another advantage of these fuel cells; they can achieve stable operation using not only hydrogen, but also natural gas, and so on. Several tens of these cells are connected in series to form a cell stack that functions as the core of a practical power generation system.

Point!

An electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly by oxidizing fuel.