British firms, ITM Power and Roush Technologies have signed an agreement that will put the United Kingdom on the fast track to hydrogen cars. Roush, a leading automotive technology, engineering and development firm will be responsible for adapting current internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen.
ITM Power, on the other hand, is in the process of using breakthrough technology to build home hydrogen fueling stations so that consumers can refuel their cars in the comfort of their own garages. ITM Power is building a special facility for the production of these home refueling stations in Sheffield that will go online sometime the second quarter this year.
The ITM Power fueling station will use an electrolyzer to convert water to hydrogen. The electrolysis unit can use power from the grid or electricity supplied by renewable sources such as wind, solar, ocean power, or geothermal to create hydrogen. If the grid is used, then hydrogen can be created during off-peak hours to minimize costs.
According to the agreement, consumers will be able to buy a complete package of hydrogen car and home refueling station from these vendors.
While Honda, GM, General Electric and a few other companies have been in development of home hydrogen fueling stations, it looks like ITM Power will beat them to the punch and be the first in the world to offer a commercial unit to consumers. You can bet that the people across the pond will be keeping a close eye on ITM Power as this breakthrough technology may offer a viable solution to escalate the rollout hydrogen fueling stations in the U. S. as well.
Here’s another good article explaining ITM Power in more detail:
http://www.economist.com/science/tm/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11831730