Just 9 miles from the new Olympic Park in Beijing, China another park has opened up, which is serving hydrogen to vehicles. At the Beijing Hydrogen Park, China’s first hydrogen fueling station has opened, operated by energy giant, BP. Spending $3.5 million on the new hydrogen fueling station, BP will be accommodating China’s current eight hydrogen vehicles that are being tested.
By the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, China hopes to have 100 hydrogen vehicles in operation, which will also be refueled at this station. The Beijing Hydrogen Park is located at the Yongfeng High-Tech Parks and is aimed and developing, demonstrating and promoting hydrogen vehicles.
China has long struggled with air quality in its major cities. As the world’s largest coal producer, China has many industries and citizens that are still using coal for heat and energy. In 2005, China pledged to the International Olympic Committee to achieve World Health Organization standards for urban air quality in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
China has committed to clean the air quality of Beijing by helping industries and citizens reduce the consumption of coal, by using natural gas and liquid petroleum gas as substitutes. China has also joined with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the Green Olympics Protocol and will cooperate in developing a cleaner and greener environment by using solar energy (photovoltaics), environmentally friendly buildings and clean coal technology.
Many experts have stated that China may host the first large scale deployment of hydrogen vehicles since much of their current automotive infrastructure has not been developed yet. China may just skip much of the petroleum-based infrastructure common in other large industrialized nations and straight into a high-tech future.