A one-meter-square gray box studded with green lights sits in a hallway near the laboratory of materials scientist Eric Wachsman, director of the Energy Research Center at the University of Maryland. It is a mockup of a fuel-cell device that runs on natural gas, producing electricity at the same cost as a large gas plant. The box is designed to house stacks of solid-oxide fuel cells that differ from their conventional counterparts in a dramatic way: they're projected to produce electricity for $1 per watt, down from $8 in today's commercial versions, thanks to improvements that Wachsman has made in the ceramic materials at their heart.
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