This work presents a technical and economic analysis of a power supply system based on a 5 kW Proton
Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) fed with hydrogen produced by the auto-thermal reforming of
ethanol. The technical analysis is based on unpublished experimental data obtained from the prototype
of an ethanol reformer developed by the Hydrogen Laboratory at Unicamp and by Hytron, which
represents the state-of-the-art of this technology in Brazil. The results point out that the cost of the
hydrogen produced by the ethanol reformer prototype is lower than the hydrogen prices in the Brazilian
market, and that the cost of the electricity produced by that hydrogen in a PEMFC is lower than other
alternative sources of energy, except when compared to the electricity available in grid-connected power
system in Brazil.