The Hymera hydrogen fuel cell generator has a number of advantages over conventional fossil fuel-driven units. Fuel cells produce almost no noise, are very efficient, and their only exhaust emissions are water or water vapor. The Hymera has a fraction of the carbon footprint of a conventional diesel or gasoline generator when used to power low-power loads, says BOC.

Hydrogen fuel cells are almost silent, so they can be used in situations where noise is an issue – for example in residential areas at night. Reducing the exposure of employees to continuous high levels of noise is also an increasingly important concern for many companies. And because it does not emit any potentially harmful substances (like CO and NOx), the Hymera can be used where such emissions could be problematic.

Furthermore, conventional gasoline and diesel generators – even the smallest are rated at nearly 1 kW – have very poor efficiency at low and part load, less than 5 percent in some cases. So there is no benefit in using a high-efficiency floodlight rather than a conventional tungsten floodlight with a gasoline or diesel generator, as the fuel consumption per hour would only be reduced by a small amount.

While other technologies, such as lighting, computing and visual displays, have made significant improvements in efficiency (i.e. they do the same work as before, but use much less energy), gasoline and diesel generators have not downsized to match the reduced power requirement of many loads.