Fuel Cell Technologies, Applications, and State of the Art. A Reference Guide

The reliance upon fossil fuels is one of the most important problems that we have to deal with nowadays, because using them is highly not sustainable, and leads to serious environmental issues, such as air pollution and global warming, beside its negative effect on the economic security and development for many countries. Alternatively, environmental-friendly, sustainable, efficient new power sources are needed. Among all of the different technologies associated with the renewable energy, fuel cell technologies represent one of the most promising storage solutions. In this article, an overview of the technology and its advantages and disadvantages compared with competitive technologies was revealed. Application of different types of fuel cells is covered in the stationary, portable and transport power sectors. Furthermore, a special focus was made on the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells; in that its structure was studied in detail. The current limitation and promising development in PEM technology were stated.