Monday, November 17, 2008

University of Birmingham To Test Hydrogen In England

The British Midlands Development Corporation has announced that the University of Birmingham has unveiled a fleet of Hydrogen powered cars, making it the only university in the United Kingdom to have these vehicles.

The vehicles will be used as part of a study to research the viability of Hydrogen in transport applications. Engineers will be comparing the Hydrogen powered vehicles with gasoline, diesel and electric vehicles to learn more about their efficiency and performance. The researchers will determine how these vehicles need to be adapted in order to make Hydrogen an attractive and cost effective option.

The cars will utilize a Hydrogen fueling station at the university designed by Pennsylvania based Air Products that can fuel up to six vehicles per day. The Hydrogen fueling station is part of a cluster being set up across the region by the British Midlands Hydrogen Forum. The cluster known as the Midlands Hydrogen Ring consists of stations that will be at the heart of the Hydrogen fueling infrastructure planned throughout the region. A second station is already operational at Loughborough University and further sites planned include vehicle testing centers, an airport, a visitor attraction and eventually the open road.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/British-Midlands-University-Unveils-Fleet/story.aspx?guid={9AC0AD32-92E3-451A-AA85-88266E8DB4FD}