Fuel cell submarines offer underwater stealth

ONR is testing a 500-kilowatt diesel fuel reformer, or "integrated fuel processor," that is compatible with a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, at the Department of Energy Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Idaho Falls.

The ONR is also funding development of a method to extract hydrogen from diesel fuel. A diesel reforming system would take advantage of the relative low cost of the fuel and the Navy's established infrastructure for buying, storing, and transporting it.