Zoomi Life

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced that they will be issuing a grant for $1.7 million each to four organizations to build hydrogen refueling stations. Those four organizations are: The San Francisco Airport, Shell Hydrogen, Mebtahi Station Services, and UCLA.

These hydrogen refueling stations will be used for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like the Honda FCX Clarity and will be open to the public and operate much like normal gasoline stations. This will effectively double the amount of hydrogen available to the California public for refueling.

“Hydrogen is one of the many fuels in California’s future,” said Mary Nichols, chairman of CARB.  “We need to cultivate the industry’s growth.”

The four stations will be able to refuel up to 115 hydrogen-fueled cars per day. They’ll have a capacity of up to 460kg of hydrogen daily and the average vehicle run by fuel cells requires 4-5kg of hydrogen to fill to full.

Mebtahi Station Services will use the funds to ad hydrogen fueling to their already-existing Chevron Station in Harbor City, California, providing about 100kg of hydrogen per day at that station.  The SF Airport will build a hydrogen refueling facility at the airport’s exit to Hwy 101, dispensing about 120kg/day to be used by transit agencies (buses, taxis, etc.).

Shell Hydrogen will also be adding hydrogen to their existing Newport Beach station, providing up to 100kg/day at that retail location.  UCLA will build a new hydrogen fueling station at a transit facility for buses, cabs, etc., but it will also be open to the public, providing about 140kg/day.

Definitely a step in the right direction.

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