The SP3 group is working on clean energy sources and the development of technologies for the hydrogen economy sector. Reduced use of hydrocarbon fuels can be achieved by using hydrogen and air combined in fuel cells to produce electricity. The widespread use of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMs) has been hindered by the fabrication costs of both the membranes and catalysts that form the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). The SP3 group is researching the manufacture of PEM fuel cells using dry plasma processing techniques, similar to that presently used in the micro-electronics industry. In comparison to typical wet chemical processing of materials plasma processes are clean, dry and efficient. Several plasma-processing techniques are being utilized to make fuel cells a viable alternate energy source for the future. SP3 has shown that the amount of precious metals used for the catalyst (such as platinum) in PEM fuel cells can be significantly reduced using plasma-sputter deposition while increasing the fuel cell efficiency. Furthermore, SP3 is commissioning a new plasma system to synthesize proton conducting polymer membranes that are thin, dense and highly cross-linked. By coupling the plasma polymer membranes with plasma sputtered electrodes we envisage manufacturing a complete membrane electrode assembly that is produced entirely using plasma-processing techniques. This will be a world first.