A RESEARCH facility in the North-East has been showcasing its work in fuel-cell technology.

The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), based at the Wilton Centre, on Teesside, has a stand at the International Grove Fuel Cell Symposium this week.

The symposium is a three-day conference, which will be visited by 500 international delegates.

Experts believe the energy crisis can be solved by fuel cells - which are battery-type electro-chemical devices that produce electricity and heat.

The most common type uses hydrogen as a fuel, with no by-products apart from water.

The CPI is one of regional development agency One NorthEast's five centres of excellence, and has a team of ten experts working on putting fuel cells into practice.

Under the leadership of director of fuel cell applications Dr Graham Hillier, the team is working on fuel cell projects including mobile road signs, information signs and speed signs. There are already four hydrogen-powered road signs operating on Teesside.

The CPI is also working on fuel cells to power domestic heat and power supplies, and larger scale industrial combined power systems and surface transport, such as trams and light rail.