Ohio companies work to make fuel cells affordable

If you take apart any fuel cell in the U.S., chances are you’ll find at least one component made in Ohio.

While other states have encourage fuel cell purchases, Ohio has focused on developing the supply chain and manufacturing capabilities needed to make fuel cells more efficient and affordable.

“We’re known across the country, and maybe even worldwide, as a place that is supportive of fuel cells,” said Bill Dawson, CEO of NexTech Materials Ltd., a fuel cell firm in Lewis Center.

Ohio was named one of the top five states for fuel cells in a report released last month by Fuel Cells 2000, an advocacy program run by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Breakthrough Technologies Institute.

“I would argue we’re in the top three,” said Pat Valente, executive director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, which opened an office in Dublin last fall. “In Ohio, we’re really developing the industry.”

Because fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into water, electricity and heat, they are a clean energy source. Each fuel cell has an anode and a cathode, like a battery, separated by a thin layer of electrically conductive material, or “electrolyte.” Assembling the fuel cells into stacks increases the voltage.

Read the full story in Business First of Columbus.