Hydrogen may help wean telecoms off emissions-intensive power for remote infrastructure

As the world rushes to cut carbon emissions, hydrogen fuel cells may offer global telecoms an environmentally friendly solution to power energy-hungry remote networks, experts say.

Telecoms run vast arrays of relay stations, data centres and other infrastructure that need reliable, constant power. Hydrogen fuel cells, invented in the 1800s and used in U.S. and Russian space programmes, can replace noisy, polluting diesel generators that sometimes run 24 hours a day, their proponents say.

The cells are quiet, have few moving parts and only emit water. With the UN in August sounding “code red for humanity” over global warming, such power sources are attractive for a sector that accounts for 3% of global energy consumption.