Even the New York Times withholds the address

Stephen Sprunk ssprunk at cisco.com
Tue Nov 19 19:39:52 UTC 2002


Thus spake "blitz" <blitz at macronet.net>
> Fuel cells, run on natural gas are the best idea I've heard to date, and
> the safest if you're confined to upper floors, but youre talking BIG $$$
> here...whats wrong with batteries, a natural gas genny and a converter
> system, telco style? If this is all about diesel storage, why not put the
> tanks/gennys in the basement or lower more secure floors? (Im assuming
> burial is out of the question in NYC) That way a small day tank would
> suffice at the upper floors.

A fuel cell is just a generator: H2 goes in one side, electricity and H2O
come out the other side -- the trick is doing this without internal
combustion.  You'll either need pressurized H2 storage tanks or a fuel
reformer to extract H2 from your methane/propane/whatever utility; that's a
bit more complicated than storing diesel or feeding utility gas straight
into a normal generator.

Otherwise, a fuel cell has the exact same design parameters as a diesel
generator for a high-rise application:  store the fuel wherever code allows,
feed it into a generator, and carry the power up to your battery plant.

S




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