When co-generating heat and electricity, solid oxide fuel cells can reach combined efficiencies upwards of 85%, which is excellent, but no word yet whether or not the Bloom fuel cell will co-generate heat.
"We now have very strong evidence that Brazil's ability to generate electricity depends on forest conservation, " said co-author Dr Daniel Nepstad, executive director of IPAM-IP.
The plant run by Highview Power Storage -- a company co-founded by Dearman and jointly funded by the UK government -- can generate 500 kilowatts of power, he says, but there is nothing to stop them being made on a much larger scale.