Grid-Free Non-Combustion Heating Arrives

A December 2007 post included the prediction, "An Australian firm may be the first to domestic market with a natural gas fuel cell targeted at lighting and heating homes. Indeed 2008 and 2009 could be the years that distributed generation and CHP (Combined Heat Power) register on investor and consumer radars." 

Whereas Canada pioneered hydrogen fuel cells for buses, a BBC item indicates the Japanese take the lead in CHP for homes.
The home systems could well be the answer to fuel savings in countries colder than Australia and Japan, especially if they happen to have abundant supplies of natural gas. Another prediction: Within a decade, rather than freeze in the dark, Canadians we will be able to swim in back-yard pools nine months of the year -just like Floridians.