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A new fuel cell boiler has been developed by British Gas that could end up turning homes across the UK into mini-power stations. About 30 households will participate in a trial of the technology — which uses a combination of heat and power to generate electricity and simultaneously heat a home using natural gas. Yes, that’s right — this technology is still tied to a fossil-fuel. But it’s efficiency over a standard boiler (up to a quarter off the bill of a home with a modern condensing system) is certainly welcome. From the article,

Instead of burning gas like a condensing boiler, this new machine passes gas through a fuel cell in a chemical process that creates heat and electricity simultaneously. In other words, it turns your home into a micro generator of electricity. That also means your boiler will sometimes be generating more electricity than you’re using, in which case you’d be able to export that back to the national grid. We asked British Gas whether it would guarantee to buy back the home-generated electricity, but it said it hadn’t yet made a decision.

Prices are not yet determined, but analysts are saying something between $5K and $6K. Savings made by the new machines are expected to pay back the premium within five years. While I’d prefer something a bit more renewable, it’s still encouraging to see efficiency and innovation occurring in home heating and energy generation. For more, jump here.

via smart planet