The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is planning to build a public hydrogen fueling station to provide fuel for airport shuttle buses and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority hybrid buses. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is partially funding this project with $1.7 million.
Linde North America, one of the largest builders of hydrogen stations (especially in Germany) has the contract to build the SFO hydrogen refueling station. The completion of this station in early 2010 means that this will be one of four hydrogen fueling stations either operational or planned in the San Francisco Bay area.
Another three hydrogen fueling stations are operational in the Sacramento area. In December 2008 I had talked about the geographical cluster-model for building hydrogen fueling stations inside of high population centers that also contain a high number of hydrogen cars.
Right now Los Angeles is the first such cluster-model with around 20 hydrogen fueling stations either operational or planned. Drivers of the BMW Hydrogen 7, Honda FCX Clarity and the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell don’t have to worry about running out of gas when traveling around LA.
The San Francisco Bay area is also starting to grow into a similar cluster model. And, why not? With Silicon Valley nearby as well as the California Fuel Cell Partnership and a high public interest in going green and reducing emissions, the Bay area is the perfect place for a cluster of hydrogen fueling stations and H2 cars to congregate.
Hydrogen stations are needed in Oregon and Washington.
Without an extended network of stations so one can get from California up to
Canada without being followed by a diesel powered refueler, will hydrogen
be accepted as a realistic transportation fuel? Already, Steven Chu has
thrown a monkey wrench at the effort to commercialize fuel cells by cutting
federal incentives by more than 50%.
Concerning these stations, are they going to be high output stations? Are they
going to handle 1000 cars a day? Will they be able to refuel vehicles quickly?
I appreciate your enthusiasm and concerns. The federal cuts will be a body blow to the hydrogen research and development community. In regard to the demonstration vehicles and demonstration stations they are not ready for full production yet. Their purpose is to educate the public and demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen cars and a network of refueling stations.