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UCL student outreach group develop electricity from hydrogen

UCell is a team of Ph.D. and Master students, lecturers and industrial partners working on electricity production from hydrogen.

UCell

2 August 2019

UCell's aim is to demonstrate the real potential of alternative energy sources by providing fuel cell-generated electricity to events, along with public engagement and demonstrations to inform and educate about new energy technologies.

Using their own hand-built mobile fuel cell to convert hydrogen gas into electricity, they attend (and provide power to) a hectic schedule of events. These include offering renewable mobile phone charging at Glastonbury Festival and providing power for a performance tent at Green Man Festival, as well as outreach in schools and working alongside the UCL Sustainability Team.

This year, they’ll showcase a new, more powerful system and offer further demonstrations on solar power, electrolysers and fuel cells to build further awareness of the potential for low-carbon energy generation. Vidal Bharath, a PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and member of UCell, explained the benefits of their work:

Hydrogen-powered mulled apple juice
"Raising awareness of new low-carbon technologies is vital in the path to commercialisation and adoption by the public. At UCell, we have found that our outreach and engagement activities have been an essential tool in illuminating the current work of scientists and researchers in the area of green technology. By providing hands-on demonstrations and activities at events with diverse audiences we have helped the public better understand fuel cells and stimulated debate around the wider issues of sustainability."

Read more​ about UCell →