Even though President Obama hasn’t exactly been a friend of hydrogen cars during his term as President there is now some good news and funding coming out of Washington that is a bit unexpected. The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that they will make up to $2 million available this year for the purpose of analyzing performance data for hydrogen fueling stations.
With all of the major automakers saying they will have production ready hydrogen cars built by the year 2015, the DOE is stepping up measures to not only analyze the data but to help reduce costs for building hydrogen fueling pumps and stations.
According to the DOE, “The department seeks applicants to this funding opportunity to test new refueling component technologies that could substantially reduce the cost of hydrogen. These include, but are not limited to, advanced compressor designs that could reduce the number or size of compressors required at commercial refueling sites; hydrogen delivery tanks with higher capacity and optimal tank pressure—which could reduce the need for compressors and the frequency of deliveries at refueling sites; and advanced electrolyzers that can produce hydrogen at higher pressures, potentially lowering the cost of hydrogen by reducing the amount of post-production compression required.”
If you have any interest in applying for some of this money you can go here and fill out an online application. The two areas that the DOE is most interested in include data collection from hydrogen fueling stations and the validation and cost reduction methods involved in hydrogen fueling station components.