Yesterday I talked about Japan opening their first public hydrogen fueling station. Today I want to talk about another Asian country’s first as well.
Bangkok Industrial Gas Company (BIG), a subsidiary of Air Products, has decided to be large and in charge by creating Thailand’s first hydrogen fueling station. Air Products now operates 90 worldwide hydrogen fueling stations.
According to the Bangkok Post, “Clean fuels such as hydrogen play a significant role in developing next-generation vehicles because global oil prices are unlikely to decline … Once petrol prices in Thailand hit 40 baht a litre, cars fuelled by hydrogen will be competitive but government support remains critical to keep costs down, said Mr Piyabut.
“BIG aims to invest in a fourth hydrogen plant in Thailand in two years to tap into rising demand, due mainly to the new Euro 5 fuel environmental standard, which uses hydrogen in the manufacturing process. While details of the new hydrogen plant have not been finalised, he said the facility is expected to be located in Map Ta Phut, Rayong.”
So, BIG is betting on hydrogen cars being big. When the far reaches of the world such as Bangkok are hopping on the hydrogen bus, you know that commercialization is just around the corner.