H2USA is a public-private partnership pulled together to build and promote the hydrogen fueling infrastructure needed to roll out fuel cell vehicles over the next few years. And now the PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) has joined the DOE (Department of Energy) consortium to help in this effort.
The last time I had talked about H2USA was on May 14, 2013. I talked about how the partnership included government, automakers, gas suppliers and hydrogen fuel cell companies coming together to build hydrogen fueling stations, production facilities and distribution lines.
Now, almost a year later, according to the PNNL, “Participants in H2USA are working together to create ways to deliver affordable hydrogen fuel safely. Drivers of gasoline-powered vehicles can go just about anywhere, confident a filling station will be nearby. The pipelines necessary to move gasoline around the country have existed for decades; gas stations on street corners are a common landmark, and the trucks that haul gasoline into each station’s tanks pass without notice.
“But the infrastructure required to do the same with hydrogen is in the very early stages. There are just a handful of hydrogen filling stations available to the public nationwide. Besides filling stations, planners need to consider factors such as how to move the fuel from the central manufacturing facilities to those stations.
“At the same time, several major automakers have plans to unveil fuel-cell-powered vehicles for sale in the next few years. Hyundai, Honda and Toyota are poised to sell fuel-cell cars within the next two years. The consortium is helping to create the infrastructure necessary so that drivers of those cars can be confident of a fill-up nearby.”
PNNL’s part in the partnership includes research, development and vast knowledge of hydrogen safety, tools, project testing, storage and production. PNNL’s contribution is expected to, in collaboration “set the direction” for growing the H2 infrastructure in the USA.