UK's first hydrogen fuel station opens

Last week saw the opening of the first hydrogen fuelling station in England. The station is based at Birmingham University, where experiments are being carried out to test the viability of hydrogen in transport applications, as part of Birmingham’s ‘Science City’ hydrogen energy project.

Researchers will compare five hydrogen-powered vehicles with the university’s own fleet of gasoline, diesel, and electric vehicles to learn more about efficiency and performance. The main aim is to work out exactly how the vehicles might need to be adapted to enable the cost-effective use of hydrogen vehicles in the future.

The Series-100 station has been specially designed by Air-Products, a Pennsylvania-based hydrogen producer and supplier. The fueller is made up of an integrated compression, hydrogen storage, and dispensing system, optimised to fuel up to six vehicles per day. Crucially, the system is portable, making it a perfect choice for start-up stations.

Looking ahead, the research team hope that the results of the project will encourage greater government support, particularly of the financial kind, and help kick-start the wider application of a hydrogen-fuelling infrastructure across the UK.

Via Autoindustry

See BBC video footage of the opening here