At a data facility in Germantown, Md., the Energy Department runs its most mission-critical operations: office management applications; e-mail services; network management; personnel, procurement, financial and project management applications; and others.

That's why Jake Wooley, deputy director of Energy's information technology management office, worries what might happen if the East Coast's power grid failed.

Like IT managers at a handful of other federal agencies, Wooley has begun studying whether hydrogen fuel cells could be used as an alternate power source for the Energy Department's primary data center.

Besides the promise of offering greater energy security, fuel cells come with another benefit, Wooley says: less ozone-damaging pollution than traditional energy sources. Fuel cells generate energy through a hydrogen reaction, which is cleaner than energy produced by combustion at coal-fired power plants.

One drawback: Fuel cells may be too large to install near many Washington buildings. Finding space for fuel cells — some of which can be the size of half a semi-truck — is a challenge for agencies and companies, said Frank Wolak, vice president of business development for FuelCell Energy, a Connecticut-based company consulting with agencies on fuel cell technology.

"Those buildings were designed to be esthetically pleasing. ... The building stock is also old, so there's not a lot of mechanical space for fuel cells," he said.

Nevertheless, the Commerce and Interior departments are talking with a local utility company and a fuel cell manufacturer about installing fuel cells for their Washington headquarters. Commerce has considered placing fuel cells in the courtyard.

Despite concerns about their size, fuel cells are an attractive option for federal IT managers. That's because agencies are under increasing pressure from the White House to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and data centers are among the biggest energy hogs in government.

Agencies combined must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent over the next decade. Fuel cells are not considered renewable energy sources — which would be ideal — because they require natural gas, but they produce far less emissions than coal-burning electrical plants emit and no particulate matter, Wooley said.

Automakers have experimented with hydrogen fuel cells to power cars, but hydrogen-powered vehicles are proving impractical because obtaining hydrogen on the road is difficult. But hydrogen fuel cells are easy to power for buildings because they can pull hydrogen from natural gas lines, said Bob Tierney of UTC Power, one of the companies providing analysis for the Energy Department's study.

"Buildings have such extensive networks of natural gas that you take away that concern of how to refuel hydrogen," said Tierney, manager of business development and strategic planning for the Connecticut-based fuel cell manufacturer.

Fuel cells also produce heat that can be pumped through buildings or used to heat water, Wooley said.

The fuel cells may best be used in buildings such as data centers that are occupied around the clock, allowing agencies to get the most for their technology dollars, said Wolak of FuelCell Energy.

"Is the building's electrical and thermal composition suitable for fuel cells? If the building's dark at night and no one's around, then that equipment is sitting idle," Wolak said.

Fuel cells can cost millions of dollars, and private companies have been able to buy them thanks to state and federal tax credits and incentives. The federal government won't have access to such subsidies, which is why the Energy Department is studying whether purchasing fuel cells is financially and logistically feasible, Wooley said. The study, which started about a month ago, may take up to a year.

Private facilities that have installed fuel cells include the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. brewery in California, a Whole Foods supermarket in California and a Cabela's outfitter in Connecticut.

"Where there are state incentives, the cost of electricity from fuel cells is comparable to the grid," Tierney said.

But Wolak said the fuel cell industry could use the boost that federal investment would bring, as agencies' orders would increase the volume produced and help lower costs.