Developing a Blueprint for a Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure

by Robert L. Mauro, Executive Vice President, National Hydrogen Association
A workshop on developing a blueprint for a hydrogen-refueling infrastructure was held in Sacramento, California, U.S.A., by the U.S. Department of Energy, California Air Resources Board, and California Energy Commission. The impetus for the meeting was the development early in 1998 of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CFCP). The CFCP plans to put fuel cell-powered vehicles on the road: up to 50 cars and 10 buses that are hydrogen- or methanol-fueled. The consortium is composed of automakers, energy companies, state agencies, and others. The workshop was convened to address this question: “What has to be done, starting today, to implement a hydrogen fuel infrastructure so that when hydrogen vehicles become market-ready in three to five years, the fuel infrastructure required for on-board direct use of hydrogen will be available?”

There were more than 50 industry, national lab, and governmental representatives attending the workshop, and they were asked to classify barriers to implementing a hydrogen fuel infrastructure, establish R&D needs and priorities, and identify stakeholder roles. After an overview, the attendees broke into three groups that focused on those areas.

The parameters set at the workshop focused on the number of vehicles that a hydrogen infrastructure would have to support by 2003-2005. The basic assumptions were that, of the 3,400 CNG buses currently in operation, five percent of these would be hydrogen-fueled by 2003 and, by 2005, the total number of hydrogen buses would be in the hundreds.

Number of Expected Hydrogen Vehicles
Number of H2 Fuel Cell Vehicles Year
  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Transit Buses 3 7 20 30 40 50
Light-Duty Vehicles 5 10 50 100 500 1,000

The significant outcomes of the meeting included plans to:

  1. Develop a roadmap for commercial hydrogen refueling infrastructure;
  2. Initiate a process facilitated by government for industry to grow that infrastructure;
  3. Develop standard refueling station designs;
  4. Test and certify 5,000 psi hydrogen storage for light duty vehicles; and
  5. Establish a national entity to prepare, validate, and promulgate uniform codes and standards for vehicles and buses.

The table below presents the timetable for the hydrogen community for providing the hydrogen infrastructure.

The next steps in this process will include the formation of a core group, which will begin developing detailed work plans for each of the tasks in the Action Plan. This Blueprint and Action Plan are posted on the DOE hydrogen website at www.eren.doe.gov/hydrogen.


Suggested Timetable for Providing the Hydrogen Infrastructure

Task Year
200020012002200320042005
Standardized
Dispensing
Station
Design		 Establish
requirements,
draft and
validate design		 Adopt and
promulgate
design		 Install
dispensing
stations		 OEMs build
standard
dispensing
equipment		 Build
dispensing
stations
as needed		 Build
dispensing
stations
as needed
Test and
Certify
Hydrogen
Containers		 Adopt test
requirements,
conduct testing,
certify to DOT
standards		 Validate
containers
systems on
vehicles		 Conduct
fleet testing
for O/M
requirements		 OEMs build
containers
to
certified
standards		   
Integrated
Codes and
Standards		 Prepare
overall C/S
strategy		 Submit
draft code
to ICC		 ICC
publishes
code		 Effective
date of
code		 Prepare
revision if
needed		 Submit
revisions
to ICC
Safety
RD&D for
Public Use
of H2		 Prepare,
initiate
RD&D plan		 Conduct
RD&D,
training		 Conduct
RD&D,
training		 Publish
safety and
training
guidelines		 Validate
public
refueling
safety		 Limited
public
refueling
Roadmap Core group
prepares and
adopts
Roadmap		 Implement
Roadmap		 Implement
Roadmap		 Install
infra-
structure		 Validate
fleet
vehicle
refueling
Revise
Roadmap
for
long-term

©2000. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of the National Hydrogen Association.
This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Home Page • Return to NHA News Index