It looks like my spec for 50% efficiency in the gas-to-electricity step in Sustainability may have been pessimistic; Fuel Cell Today had an article last year which claimed the possibility of 80% efficiency (see page 4). (I claim overwork as an excuse. Yeah, that's it.)
Further, this is not from a SOFC, it's with a turbine-compounded MCFC. With this sort of efficiency, it would be feasible to dispense with SOFC's entirely. This is the sort of backup technology which practically guarantees that the concept is viable. The one element I cannot pin down is cost.
In other news, LiFePO4 cells are heading toward commodity status.
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