Climatewire: The East Coast soon may have a “hydrogen highway,” a series of solar refueling stations covering roads from Portland, Maine, to southern Florida.
Connecticut-based SunHydro plans to construct 11 stations with technology that uses solar-generated electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which then can be used as fuel for hydrogen cars. The process results in less emissions — and is cheaper — than other hydrogen technologies, like shipping it or reforming it from natural gas.
Several automakers are developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles despite the surge of electric cars, but a lack of a refueling network has prevented companies from selling their vehicles widely.
“We’ve just decided that somebody needed to start this process,” said SunHydro President Michael Grey. “You have a lot of the big companies talk about it, but nobody’s stepped up to the plate and made it happen.”
The first stations, which will service 10 to 15 cars per day, will be located in Portland, Maine; Braintree, Mass.; Wallingford, Conn.; South Hackensack, N.J.; Claymont, Del.; Richmond, Va.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta and Savannah, Ga.; and Orlando and Miami, Fla.
Each will cost about $3 million to install and will rely on private donors (Keith Barry, Wired, Jan. 27). – EL