Hydrogen highway

A hydrogen highway is a chain of hydrogen-equipped filling stations and other hydrogen infrastructure along a road or highway which would allow hydrogen powered cars to travel. It is an element of the hydrogen infrastructure that is generally assumed to be a pre-requisite for mass utilization of hydrogen cars. For instance, William Clay Ford Jr. has stated that infrastructure is one of three factors (also including costs and manufacturability in high volumes) that hold back the marketability of fuel cell cars, (some commentators, such as Amory Lovins in Natural Capitalism, have argued that such infrastructure may not be necessary). Hence, there are plans and proposals to begin developing hydrogen highways through private and public funds.

The use of hydrogen cars has been proposed as a means to reduce local air pollution and carbon emissions because hydrogen fuel cell cars emit clean exhaust. However, as long as the majority of hydrogen continues to be produced by burning fossil fuels, pollution is emitted by the hydrogen manufacturing process.

Japan

At the end of 2012 there were 17 private hydrogen stations, and 19 new stations were expected to be installed by 2015. In 2014, Japan got its first commercial hydrogen fueling station. The Government expected to add up to 100 hydrogen stations under a budget of 460 million dollars covering 50% of the installation costs with the last ones hoped to be operational in 2015. JX Energy plans to install 40 stations by 2015. and another 60 in the period 2016-2018 Toho Gas and Iwatani Corp plan to develop an additional 20 stations. Toyota Tsusho and Air Liquide formed a joint venture to build 2 hydrogen stations planned to be ready by 2015. A "task force" led by Yuriko Koike, Japan's former environment minister, and supported by the country's Liberal Democratic Party was set up to guide the process.

Europe

As of November 2014, there were 27 publicly available hydrogen fuel stations in operation in Western Europe. "That number is expected to climb to 47 stations [in 2015], but considering that each new station costs around $1.3 million to build, the cost is pretty high for this buildout."

Germany

In Germany as of September 2013 there were 15 publicly available hydrogen fuel stations in operation. Most but not all of these stations were operated by partners of the Clean Energy Partnership. The German government had agreed to support an expansion of the stations nationwide to 50 by 2015, under a letter of intent, through its public private partnership Now GMBH program NIP (National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Programme) with a subsidy of 20 Million Euros. The H2 Mobility initiative had stated that it wants to raise that number to 100 stations from 2015 to 2017 and to 400 stations in 2023 at a cost of €350 million Euro.

Italy

Italy's first hydrogen highway is the Motorway of Brennero (A22). It runs from Modena to Verona.

Scandinavia

The Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership (SHHP) is planned to link the three current hydrogen highways: HyNor, Hydrogen Sweden and Hydrogen Link Network.

HyNor - In Norway, as of 2009, a 7 station hydrogen highway was planned from Oslo to Stavanger. In 2011, Statoil announced that they wanted to close their filling stations in Stavanger, Porsgrunn, Drammen and Oslo after 2012. A new company, HyOP, was established to take over the ownership and operation of the stations, and did so since May 2012.

Hydrogen Sweden (formerly Hyfuture / SamVäte i Väst) is the development of a hydrogen highway system in the western region of Sweden.

The hydrogen link network is a planned 15 station Nordic Transportation Network (NTN) that would serve to link Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany.

Spain

The first three Spanish fueling stations on the A-23 between Huesca and Zaragoza opened in 2010.

United States

There are plans and proposals for hydrogen highways in the U.S. In November 2013, The New York Times reported that there were "10 hydrogen stations available to the public in the entire United States: one in Columbia, S.C., eight in Southern California and the one in Emeryville". In 2013 the Department of Energy launched H2USA focused on advancing the hydrogen infrastructure. As of July 2015, there were a reported 12 public hydrogen fueling stations in the US, 10 of which were in California, although the California Air Resources Board reported that there were 9 public fueling stations open in California.

California

In mid-2012, the number of Hydrogen filling stations in the state of California was 23, eight of which were publicly accessible. In June 2013 the California Energy Commission granted $18.7M for building hydrogen fueling stations. In 2013 Governor Brown signed AB 8, a bill to fund $20 million a year for 10 years for up to 100 stations.

As of September 2015, the California Air Resources Board reported that there were 9 public fueling stations open in California and "an additional 18 that have been funded and are expected to be operational in the next few years."

East Coast

According to The New York Times, as of November 2013, there was one hydrogen fueling station publicly accessible in the eastern U.S., located in Columbia, South Carolina. However in 2010, the Hartford Courant reported that a publicly accessible hydrogen fueling station would open in Wallingford, Connecticut in 2010.

Canada

In British Columbia, Canada, five fueling stations were built, one each in Whistler, at the University of British Columbia and in Burnaby, and two others that were later moved to Surrey. But aside from Whistler they are little-used. Reportedly, only three leased Ford fuel cell cars remain in Surrey, and there is a fleet of 20 hydrogen buses in Whistler. There are no official plans to build any more fuelling stations as the Hydrogen Highway project closed in 2011. The hydrogen bus experiment in Whistler ended in March 2014, and the hydrogen fuelling station there is scheduled to be dismantled.

See also

• Alternative Fuels Plan
• Hydrogen economy
• Compressed hydrogen tube trailer
• Liquid hydrogen tank truck

External links

• California Hydrogen Highway
• Florida's Hydrogen Program
• Hydrogen Highway, Norway to Germany
• interactive map of hydrogen stations in Europe and worldwide