The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers released the technical report An Evaluation of Fuel Cells for Commercial Ship Applications. The new report examines fuel cells for application in commercial ships of all types for electricity generation for ships' services and for propulsion. Fuel cells enable the efficient conversion of the chemical energy of fuel to electrical power with little or no emission of pollutants or noise. Currently, fuel cells are being installed as standby power sources in buildings, and for powering submarines and buses.

Fuel cells have long provided power for spacecraft and have been proven in commercial power plants alongside conventional generators. It is generally expected that in the near future cars and some naval vessels will be driven by fuel cells.The SNAME report is identified as Technical and Research Report 55. Characteristics of fuel cells are described, with a synopsis and evaluation of the four types of fuel cells most likely to be used for commercial ship applications.

A partially annotated bibliography of other fuel-cell resources is included. The 90 -page report is being issued as a compact disk, which may be ordered through the SNAME web site (www.sname.org) for $50 ($25 for SNAME members).