“CFCL is confident that its fuel cell technology can now be applied to another fuel, namely ethanol,” said CFCL chief technology officer Dr Karl Foger.

“This means that our design has even more applications, and can achieve even better environmental outcomes delivering similar high levels of energy efficiency and constant energy supply.”

CFCL said results from a preliminary feasibility study revealed that ethanol could be made into a fuel mix suitable for CFCL’s fuel cell.

The company claimed preliminary modelling had shown that the energy efficiency would up to 50%, which is similar to a fuel cell using natural gas. Coal-fired power stations currently achieve comparatively low energy efficiency of between 25 – 30% and emit substantial volumes of greenhouse gasses in the process.

Most fuel cell designs can use only pure hydrogen as their fuel source. But producing hydrogen is complex and expensive as it requires special processing, storage and currently has no established distribution system.

Conversely natural gas, which is currently used by CFCL’s fuel cells to create electricity, is already widely available and distributed around the world and relatively inexpensive for customers.

Ethanol is a renewable relatively clean fuel produced from fermented plant material. Most ethanol in the world is produced from sugar or starch and can be made on farms from cellulose, such as wheat chaff and corn plants.

“Our fuel cells producing electricity from ethanol will be ideal for crop farmers, those industries generating plant waste, and communities without access to reliable gas or electricity,” said the company’s CEO Dr Allen Conduit.

CFCL is now looking to further develop this generator through practical studies in partnership with investors and relevant industries.