Company Unveils Home-Based Hydrogen Refueling Station
One of the main barriers to the widespread adoption of fuel cell vehicles has been the lack of an adequate hydrogen-refueling infrastructure. Beyond a handful of hydrogen stations, such as the one near Los Angeles International Airport, there just isn’t anywhere to fill up.
This has resulted in a kind of chicken-and-egg situation, where car companies, such as fuel-cell pioneers Honda, are reluctant to mass-produce hydrogen-powered cars until a comprehensive refueling system is established, and infrastructure providers won’t move until there are enough cars to make stations economically viable.
Step forward ITM Power, a UK company that has developed a hydrogen refueling station that could be installed at home, providing a ready-made solution for fuel-cell car owners.
The station works via an electrolyser, which produces the gas from water and electricity, providing enough hydrogen overnight to fuel a 25 mile journey. If required, the unit, which has been tested on a converted Ford Focus, can also convert the gas back into electricity for use in the home.
According to Chief Executive Jim Heathcote, the unit, which is currently only a prototype, could be produced on a commercial scale by the end of the year, at an initial cost of £2,000 (around $4,000). He also anticipates that home-based systems could eventually be supplemented by more powerful stations in public places, capable of producing enough hydrogen for a 100 mile journey.
Speaking at a showcase launch event in Sheffield he said, “Given the pressing need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, especially oil, and to cut CO2 emissions, the future for hydrogen as an alternative means of storing and utilising energy cost-effectively has never been brighter.”
Posts Related to Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles:
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- GM Backs Hydrogen Refueling Station Near LA
- VW Debuts Tiguan HyMotion Fuel-Cell Vehicle and 2009 Clean Diesel Jetta
- Toyota Announces New 516-Mile Range Fuel-Cell/Electric Hybrid
Image Credit - ITM Power
All interesting BUT, what is the cost per mile or the cost per gallon equivalent of gasoline (I am sure this is a function of electricity cost)?
The perfect system is to be able to convert PV directly into Hydrogen for the car.
Why does the machine take overnight to produce enough Hydrogen for 25 miles when people all over the world are making HHO generators that are producing a liter per minute?
Search HHO generator on YouTube.
The other very cool thing about household hydrogen generation will be for hot water. You could have point of use heaters that use hydrogen, no ignition. The exhaust is water, no CO. So very safe, very efficient.
you could put one of these babies right in the shower head.
Also space heating, your only risk would be drowning.
very cool…
Home based hydrogen! What a concept!
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
But does it blend?
great! thanks very much for sharing!
Yeah, that’s good. Take perfectly good electricity, split water molecules, and then get what, 65% of that energy back when you recombine the molecules during combustion?
Why not just put electric batteries and motors in there instead? You’ll get 50% more usable energy when all is said and done.
Hydrogen fuel cells are as big a scam as corn-based ethanol. Don’t bother. Sure, it’s a great opportunity to profit, I guess that means it’s the American Way! Yay!
Here’s the thing: They want to use electricity to produce hydrogen, which is stored in a vehicle and converted back to electricity using an *expensive* fuel cell stack to power an electric motor. WHY NOT USE BATTERIES?? Modern batteries have a much larger energy density due to the fact that hydrogen is such a light gas. The entire hydrogen process seems very counterproductive. Am I wrong?
But what’s the point if it’s running on electricity made at home???
Which is made from electricity from burning coal and such?
HHO Generators? Shouldn’t that be 2H2-O2 Generators?