A fuel cell is a machine – a device that converts a fuel such as hydrogen to electricity without burning it. It uses an electrochemical process rather than a combustion process. The fuel cell was invented in 1839 by William Grove and was originally called a "gas battery." The term 'fuel cell' was first introduced by the chemists Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer in 1889 when they attempted to build a device using air and industrial coal gas. In 1932 Dr Francis Thomas Bacon extended the original design developed by Mond and Langer. This device which he named the 'Bacon Cell' was in essence the first alkaline fuel cell (AFC). In 1959 Bacon demonstrated a machine capable of producing 5 kW of power, enough to power a welding machine. Later that year (1959) Harry Karl Ihrig of Allis-Chalmers, a manufacturer of farm equipment, demonstrated the first fuel cell powered vehicle. He produced a fuel cell stack which could generate 15 kW and was capable of powering a 20 horsepower tractor. The fuel cell was used extensively in the space program, beginning in the late 1950s and is still used at this time. In 1993, Ballard Systems launched the first modern version of a fuel cell vehicle with a fuel cell-powered bus.

Outside of the space program the fuel cell's use has been limited in terms of transportation. It can be used as a power generation plant or as an engine for a car. It's safe to say that as of the end of 2002, there were probably no more than a few dozen vehicles in the whole world running on fuel cells. There are a few thousand fuel cells in other applications such as power generation.

It is estimated that the current fuel cell engines in the recently shipped cars each cost over a hundred thousand dollars. (This statement will immediately be used to justify the fuel cell as a future replacement of the internal combustion engine arguing "with a price that high, imagine how far it can fall." This represents the panacea thinking prevalent both in government agencies, automobiles manufacturers and duped environmentalists.)

What is surprising is how difficult it has been to find practical applications for fuel cells outside of the space program. From first invention in 1839, to the first development of a vehicle in 1959, to the first delivery of a modern vehicle version in 1993, to the first shipment of a handful of vehicles in 2002 is a very long period of time, particularly in the modern high tech world.

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