Hydrogen Road Trip

A group of Hydrogen powered cars and sport utility vehicles lined up for public test drives in Phoenix as part of an unprecedented cross-country Hydrogen Road Tour to promote the fuel of the future.

The two week road trip, which started in Maine and ends this weekend in Southern California, toured more than 30 cities in the United states as part of a joint venture by nine auto manufacturers and the U.S. Department of Transportation to demonstrate to the public that Hydrogen powered vehicles are nearly ready for showrooms.

The hand built demonstration vehicles on the tour are all based on existing cars and small sport-utilities and were put into the hands of regular drivers so they could experience how pollution free driving is visualized for the future. The automakers involved include BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/08/23/20080823hydrogen23.html

Hydrogen, Eh?

As part of the Hydrogen on the Hill project launched last year, the Minister of Environment in Canada (John Baird) was on hand for the opening of the first permanent Hydrogen fueling station in Ottawa, Canada. The new station is the fifth permanent Hydrogen fueling station in Ontario and the tenth currently operating in Canada. The new station's first customers will be three Hydrogen powered buses operated by the Senate of Canada.

Hydrogen on the Hill is led by Industry Canada and Ford of Canada and managed by Advanced Technologies and Fuels Canada with the goal of assessing the environmental benefits and commercial feasibility of using Hydrogen as a transportation fuel.

The buses currently using the technology have already racked up more than 3,700 trouble free miles (6,000 km) over the past year. This project is proof that not only is Hydrogen a clean alternative but also a realistic alternative.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=780489

First One To Zero Wins

As part of project Zero Regio (zero-emission region) a second Hydrogen station has been opened in Mantova, Italy. True to its name, the goal of the project is to establish a zero emission region. Financed in part by the European Commission and supported by 16 partners from four European countries, the project involves constructing two Hydrogen distribution networks for the refuelling of fuel cell vehicles in the municipality of Mantua, Italy and Frankfurt, Germany.

The newly opened service station allows for Hydrogen to be produced on site using a gas powered reformer, with the Hydrogen then being used to power a fleet of three fuel cell Fiat Pandas.

Although the service station uses gas to produce Hydrogen it is still a very positive project since it should help improve the acceptance of fuel cell and Hydrogen technology by the general public.

http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/news/articles/2007-10/New-hydrogen-station-opened-in-I

Chemical Attraction

Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a model that could help speed up the development of Hydrogen vehicles by identifying promising Hydrogen storage materials.

The researchers have been able to predict the favored thermodynamic chemical reactions through which Hydrogen can be reversibly stored and extracted. One of these promising solutions involves storing Hydrogen within a material in the form of a chemically bound hydride such as lithium hydride (LiH).

This is all very promising news especially given that one of the problems when dealing with Hydrogen is how to store it given its volatility. Hopefully this will lead to safer and more efficient storage practices for Hydrogen.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071003100601.htm