Our society's power and energy demand is met largely through the combustion of fossil fuels. The world economy relies upon on a limited resource; and trends suggest that global energy use is expected to double in the coming decades. At the same time, concerns about the effects of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and criteria pollutants and about energy security continue to mount. Meeting our energy needs in a sustainable manner is a historic challenge that will cause us to diverge from the pattern of the last couple of centuries.

Storage and conversion of energy becomes increasingly relevant as we move towards greater reliance on renewable or non-traditional energy sources. Fuel cells are an efficient means to convert chemical energy into electrical energy with little or no emissions. Fuel cells and batteries are therefore expected to be an important energy technology for the future.

The Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to fuel-cell and battery research. At Georgia Tech, we have a broad range of expertise in this field. The center serves as a catalyst for revolutionary advances through world-class research integrated across disciplines and spanning from fundamental discovery to application-specific prototypes. Groundbreaking research in these areas will move the world toward more sustainable energy sources.

FCBT researchers perform test flights of revolutionary fuel cell airplane.