Re: Burlington gets region's first hydrogen station
- From: "Steve Young" <bowtieATbrightdslDOTnet>
- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 01:18:38 -0400
"... hydrogen production plant at Burlington Electric Department "
Like to take a shot at how many thousands of kilowatt hours it took to make
that tank of hydrogen? Prolly close to many peoples paycheck. I'm betting
we'll simply flip to electric vehicles and cut out the high loss middle man.
BTW, what kinda vehicle was that they used in the demo? ;)
Hydrogen as a replacement to fossil fuel is such a farce.
We'll see Mars settled before we see a hydrogen economy.
Electric will be energy's common carrier, not hydrogen.
For electric, the infrastructure is already in place and hydrogen has
NONE at all. Nothing existing will work for hydrogen.
So why will they try to make hydrogen the tweener?
So the petroleum people continue getting a slice of the pie.
Not many petro people involved when you plug your car into an electric socket.
Steve Young
_______________________________
"lkgeo1" <lkgeo1@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Burlington gets region's first hydrogen station
Publication Date:04-July-2006
02:00 PM US Eastern Timezone
Source: Lauren Ober-Free Press
Burlington might be one tiny step closer to energy independence after
the unveiling of the city's newest green vehicle. The city welcomed New
England's first hydrogen fueling station with much fanfare Monday. As a
crowd of about 50 people admired the new fuel pump and hydrogen
production plant at Burlington Electric Department on Pine Street, Rep.
Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., drove up in the state's first hydrogen-powered
vehicle, which will use the station to fill up.
With Sanders, who helped secure a $1 million Department of Energy grant
for the project, behind the wheel, the retrofitted 2005 Toyota Prius
cruised up to the pump without a sound for the unveiling. Project
coordinators then demonstrated the new pump, topping off the car's fuel
tank with hydrogen.
The project, which began in late 2004, is a joint effort by the U.S.
Department of Energy, the city of Burlington, Burlington Electric
Department, Northern Power, Proton Energy Systems and EVermont, a
nonprofit that deals with alternative fuel research and development.
The car will be used as a pilot vehicle by the Department of Public
Works for three years and its performance in inclement weather will be
tested.
John Kassel, chairman of EVermont, whose shirt and tie perfectly
matched the Prius' light blue and green paint accents, expressed
enthusiasm for the project and said he looked forward to showing that
it was possible to meet transportation needs with less petroleum.
"We can produce our own fuel and we're thrilled to have been able to do
that," Kassel said.
On the eve of America's Independence Day, both Sanders and Kassel drew
parallels to the country's need for energy self-sufficiency.
"We need to break our dependency on Mideast oil and polluting fossil
fuels," Sanders said. "This will help us move sooner rather than later
away from fossil fuels that are contributing to environmental
degradation and global warning."
The hydrogen production plant, built by Waitsfield-based Northern
Power, uses electricity from the Burlington Electric Department's wind
turbine to split the hydrogen and oxygen from water. The hydrogen is
then pumped directly into the vehicle, which was converted to accept
hydrogen by a California company called Quantum Technologies.
The four-cylinder, turbo-charged vehicle isn't set up to drive long
distances because its fuel tank is modified, but Nick Borland, project
manager for Northern Power, said it could easily be outfitted to
accommodate more hydrogen.
Borland assures that the vehicle is as safe as any on the road and that
fuel will not dispense in the car in the event of an accident. The car
produces zero carbon emissions and no greenhouse gases, making it far
cleaner than conventional gasoline-fueled vehicles, Borland said.
This type of technology is too expensive for the private consumer at
the moment, but by testing this technology in Burlington, engineers
will have a better idea how to make hydrogen fuel vehicles more
accessible.
"We're trying to head towards a more diverse energy future," Borland
said.
Have a question, comment, story idea? Contact Lauren Ober at 660-1868
or lober@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx How it works
The hydrogen production plant uses electricity from the Burlington
Electric Department's wind turbine to extract hydrogen and oxygen from
water and then compress it for storage in high-pressure tanks. The
hydrogen is then dispensed directly into the vehicle. The car doesn't
have a gas tank and its only emission is water vapor instead of carbon
dioxide.
.
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