Daimler with its 100% owned subsidiary NuCellSys and together with Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America (MBRDNA) and Daimler Innovations Lab1886 is now expanding the use case of the innovative automotive fuel cell technology. Collaborating with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Power Innovations (PI) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Daimler is utilizing its automotive fuel cell systems in stationary power systems to demonstrate a sustainable and independent energy supply for data center and to accelerate the transition to renewable energy generation and supply.

Data centers are some of the largest consumers of power in the new economy, and the growth rate of this power consumption is significant as well. U.S. data centers are projected to consume an estimated 140 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year by 2020, equivalent to the annual output of about 50 power plants, emitting nearly 100 million metric tons of carbon pollution per year, according to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The increasing power requirements must be balanced with the provisioning of sustainable energy supplies that meet and exceed environmental standards. Fuel cells are a very promising technology in this field. No other power technology can offer the high reliability, unlimited scalability, and renewable energy benefits without costly utility dependency like the fuel cell can.

With a constant supply of hydrogen, the fuel cell will keep supplying power. The technology relies on an electrochemical reaction like a battery, but, unlike a battery, fuel cells have a limitless capability. The high reliability, low emission rates, low noise levels and dramatically reduced footprint make fuel cells the ideal choice for micro-grids within data centers. Those technical benefits combined with the unlimited scalability, lowered maintenance, and cost efficiency can solve the massive energy storage requirements for today’s data centers.

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