First hydrogen fuel station in California opens in Los Angeles

In California, the first hydrogen fueling station in the state opened in Los Angeles, near interstate 405 on the west side of the city. State officials said that they foresee a “hydrogen highway” in the state that will promote the commercial development of hydrogen vehicles. Currently there are 100 hydrogen-powered cars in the state.

Hydrogen background

• General Motors VP Larry Burns, addressing the National Hydrogen Association, said that the auto industry had developed hydrogen vehicles, and government and energy companies must develop the infrastructure for fuel distribution. “It’s no longer a question of ˜can it be done?” or ˜should it be done?” said Burns. “We not only should do it. We must do it. It’s now a question of collective will. Do we have the collective resolve to work together to solve the challenges we face rather than handing them off to future generations?”

GM continues to push hard on promotion of E85 and flex-fuel vehicles as an offset to the imposition of stricter CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards. Every flex-fuel car sold contributes an offset to each car maker’s CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standard, under the new Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) signed last month.

• In Florida, SeaWorld Orlando announced that it would deploy two new hydrogen-powered shuttle buses this week, joining a program that provides transport between the Orlando Airport and the Orange County Convention Center. The new buses will be used to transport employees. The hydrogen-fuel bus program was created by a partnership including, Ford, Chevron Technology Ventures, Progress Energy, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The state’s hydrogen refueling station near the Orlando airport will service the buses, part of a 30-vehicle test fleet provided by Ford.

• Acta stated its belief that a hydrogen fueled transport system is ten years away, not 20 to 30 years. The company made its pronouncement after inking a development project deal with an unnamed Asian carmaker. Acta produces hydrogen from on-board catalysts that use ammonia or ethanol and can work with the existing fuel infrastructure.

• Researchers in England announced a process to convert glycerol to hydrogen gas. The new process is reported to be substantially cheaper than water electrolysis, the most popular production method for hydrogen. In the process, researcher mix glycerol with steam and produce water, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, producing pure hydrogen gas after the carbon is absorbed by special filters.

• ExxonMobil, QuestAir Technologies and Ben Gurion University said recently that they had completed initial development on a hydrogen production system for fuel cells that would convert biofuels on-board to hydrogen. Plug Power said that it will join the group to develop the technology for use in lift trucks, and expect to complete this phase of development by 2010. Earlier this month, an ExxonMobil manager said that hydrogen will not play a significant role in transportation looking ahead to 2030 either.

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