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Mountain View’s first hydrogen-fueling station opened for business recently at the Flyers gas station at 830 Leong Drive. The gas station installed the hydrogen pump last month, making it the 32rd station offering the fuel in California.
Hydrogen fuel cell technology generates zero carbon emission and its only byproduct is water vapor. The fuel technology has become a major component in California’s ambitious goal to cut petroleum usage, yet its adoption has lagged behind electric cars.
In 2015, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) announced it would put $2.2 million toward building hydrogen-fuel stations in 12 Bay Area cities, including Mountain View. The gas supplier company Linde North America received $300,000 in subsidies to build the Mountain View hydrogen pumps, according to a BAAQMD spokeswoman.
Great, I’ll fly my zepplin over and fill ‘er up!!
Is this really the 32rd station? I can’t wait for the 33th, 34nd, and 35st!
Could someone please give me the name of a brand or model of car that runs on hydrogen? I can’t picture one. I’ve only heard of hybrid gasoline/electric and fully electric cars. Are there any on Bay Area roads? Thanks.
@Probably74: Three cars that run on hydrogen, all of which I’ve seen in the Bay Area:
–Honda Clarity Fuel Cell
–Toyota Mirai
–Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell
So that zero carbon argument isn’t really true, since hydrogen is
currently made from natural gas (think fraking and all the attendant
problems). Getting H2 out of hydrocarbons produces C02… Doh!
Of course the fossil fuel industry loves being able to
undercut solar/wind and other renewables. The State of CA is
blowing 2.5B on this nonsense.
How about “fueling infrastruture”? Compare the electricity grid to the
“hydrogen station” network.
There’s a recent story in Bloomberg Businessweek that tells more.
Fuel Cell Research is great. It’s just way too soon to be deploying
this technology
Awesome!! No toxic batteries to bury when they go bad!!! awesome.. good bye Tesla.. wrong car type. Maybe Toyota will buy back the factor and make more Mirais.. 🙂
Bill is almost, but not quite, correct. Industrial-scale hydrogen production is done by cracking methane with steam and uses natural gas for the methane source. On the small scale, hydrogen can be made by means of electrical separation. Some stand-alone stations, like the one at Sky Londa, use solar panels and electricity to generate the hydrogen from water, and and the only byproduct is oxygen. In that case Bill’s argument falls flat.
Fuel cell cars are electric cars that use hydrogen instead of batteries to generate the electricity. One of the advantages is that you can refill in minutes instead of waiting hours for you battery to recharge.