Inside the membrane: the handoff, step by step
Follow one hydrogen molecule from gas inlet to water droplet — the deep version.
Read →How a fuel cell is made
Catalyst ink, coating, lamination, stacking, test — why fabrication is destiny.
Read →How a fuel cell actually works
Hydrogen in, electricity out, water as the only by-product — the chemistry in plain language.
Read →The main types of fuel cell
PEM, solid-oxide, molten-carbonate, phosphoric-acid and alkaline — what each is good for.
Read →Green, blue and grey hydrogen
Where hydrogen comes from, and why the color labels matter for how clean it really is.
Read →Fuel cells vs. batteries
Two different tools for two different jobs — not really rivals.
Read →Hydrogen fuel-cell cars
How FCEVs work, where they make sense, and the honest infrastructure problem.
Read →Fuel cells for backup & data centers
Quiet, on-demand clean power for places that can't go dark.
Read →Hydrogen fuel-cell FAQ
Quick, honest answers to the questions people ask most.
Read →
The six fuel-cell types, one page each
PEM fuel cells (PEMFC)
The low-temperature workhorse — cars, buses, backup power; why the membrane sets the rules.
Read →Solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC)
High-temperature, high-efficiency, fuel-flexible — and slow to start.
Read →Molten-carbonate fuel cells (MCFC)
Utility-scale stationary power that can run on natural gas or biogas.
Read →Phosphoric-acid fuel cells (PAFC)
The first commercialised type — durable, forgiving, still installed for CHP.
Read →Alkaline fuel cells (AFC)
The spaceflight original — very efficient, very fussy about CO2.
Read →Direct-methanol fuel cells (DMFC)
Liquid fuel, no reformer — small, portable, lower power density.
Read →
Straight science. This guide sticks to legitimate, citable science. It does not promote "water-as-fuel" or perpetual-motion claims — those were adjudicated as fraud and have no place here. Written by a clean-energy advocate, not a licensed engineer.
About the author — George Howell Ward is a long-time clean-energy advocate and early adopter, not a licensed engineer, energy professional, or scientist. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and writes here as an enthusiast and technologist. These guides are educational, draw on legitimate science only, and avoid debunked claims. His interest goes back over a decade: he was an early hydrogen fuel-cell enthusiast who promoted the technology through hands-on demonstrations — including hydrogen fuel-cell model cars — and attended a multi-day fuel-cell seminar hosted by UC Irvine's National Fuel Cell Research Center. (Mentioning the Center is descriptive only — it does not imply the Center endorses George, this site, or its content.)