Pepperidge Farm, known for its delicious goldfish crackers and other tasty pastries, has just dedicated the nation's largest fuel cell power plant. Located at the company's Bloomfield, Connecticut bakery, the 1.2-megawatt generator will provide more than half of the facility's energy needs.

A subsidiary of Campbell Soup Company, Pepperidge Farm paid for the installation with a $3.5 million grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF). The new fuel cell, along with a previously installed 250kw cell, provides 70% of the 260,000-square-foot facility's electricity.

By combining the 47% electrical efficiency of the fuel cell with savings from using waste heat to bake the company's fluffy breads and rolls, the system can peak at about 80% efficiency. Compare that to your average coal-fired plant, which lopes along at about 30-35% efficiency.

Fuel cell power plants have been popping up recently and not just because they're pretty sweet (much like Pepperidge's delectable 3-layer cakes). Although they are often powered by hydrogen from fossil fuels, they are much more efficient than conventional power plants and emit near zero nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter. These systems still produce a fair amount of carbon dioxide, but efficiency and the option to use biogas can offset this problem.

If carbon capture and storage becomes cheap and reliable, fuel cell plants may offer a true stopgap until humanity gets its collective head in the renewable game.

*In case you're confused about how a fuel cell power plant works, here's a poorly edited but highly informative video.