Electricity Production: There is another way (interim Jan-April 2007 application)

当今社会对权力的需求持续大幅增长。然而，这种电力需求正在对全球剩余的化石燃料储量和温室气体排放不断增加的环境造成损害。后者尤其吸引了大量媒体的报道，预测全球平均气温进一步上升将导致灾难性后果。因此，有必要立即开始解决这些问题。降低能源需求的一种方法是通过更有效的能源转换，在这方面，燃料电池正吸引着全世界的极大兴趣。燃料电池是一种可以将化学能直接转化为电能的电化学装置。它们可用于广泛的应用，例如运输、固定电源和便携式设备。它们的重要性与日俱增，是因为它们提供了比传统发电系统更高的效率，同时大大减少了温室气体排放。此外，如果使用氢气作为燃料，那么废气就只是水。最近的一些报告预测，燃料电池将在帮助英国实现其环境目标方面发挥关键作用。随着发电方式的改变，有必要向学童和普通公众介绍燃料电池的原理，因为他们将是这项技术的未来用户，在前者的情况下，是这一领域的未来研究人员。除了燃料电池与英国环境战略和未来经济的相关性外，人们也越来越需要在学校激发更多的科学兴趣，这是燃料电池的实践经验所能提供的。这个项目将建立在之前一个成功项目的基础上，开发燃料电池套件借给学校，以便将来通过借给当地学校和在展览上展示来继续使用这些套件。这将有助于向普通公众和学龄儿童介绍新能源技术领域，并激发他们的热情，旨在帮助解决全球污染问题。

The need for power in today's society is continuing to grow substantially. However, this power requirement is taking its toll on both remaining world-wide fossil fuel reserves, and the environment with growing greenhouse gas emissions. The latter has been particularly attracting considerable media coverage with projections that further rises in average global temperature will lead to disasterous consequences. There is consequently a need to start addressing these problems immediately. One way of reducing energy requirements is through more efficient energy conversion, and in this respect fuel cells are attracting considerable worldwide interest. Fuel cells are electrochemical devices which allow the direct conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. They can be used in a wide range of applications, e.g. transport, stationary power, and portable devices. Their growing importance is due to the fact that they offer much higher efficiencies than conventional power generation systems along with vastly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore if hydrogen is used as the fuel, then the exhaust is simply water. A number of recent reports have predicted that fuel cells will play a key role in helping the UK to meet its' environmental targets. With this change in the way electricity is produced, there is a need to introduce the principles of fuel cells to schoolchildren and the general public, since they will be the future users of this technology, and in the case of the former the future researchers in this area. In addition to the relevance of fuel cells to the UK's environmental strategy and indeed future economy, there is also an increasing need to generate more excitement in science in schools, which hands-on experience of fuel cells can offer. This project will build on a previous successful project developing fuel cell kits for loan to schools to make continued use of these kits in the future through loans to local schools and display at exhibitions. This will help to introduce and enthuse the general public and schoolchildren with the area of new energy technologies, aimed at helping to solve global pollution concerns.