.
German Wind To Hydrogen Fuel Plant Built
Look out Tesla. The pieces are clicking in place for hydrogen powered vehicle to be driving the highways and streets of Germany and beyond.
Linde AG has made the move to provide hydrogen for automobiles.
Linde is the worlds largest gas supplier and has just opened it’s wind energy to hydrogen plant.
That completes the circle for an almost carbon-free fuel — from the extraction of the gas to refueling facilities and the vehicles themselves — and also boosts hydrogen’s green credentials, according to Munich-based Linde.
The research plant on the banks of the River Rhine, dubbed Energiepark Mainz and developed with Siemens AG, adds to two other significant fuel cell developments this year. Toyota Motor Corp., the car industry’s biggest manufacturer, is starting production of its hydrogen-fuelled car, the Mirai, and a group including Linde, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Daimler AG starts the roll-out of a standardized network of hydrogen-friendly refueling stations across Germany.
“The whole thing only works if we have three steps: the generation of the hydrogen, the refuelling, and the cars,” said Andreas Opfermann, Linde’s head of research and development. “We are in a better situation than battery cars where every country has its own plugs, its own level of voltage. We now have standard fueling stations.”
‘Longer Ranges’
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has argued that most commercial hydrogen to run fuel cells is made from natural gas in a process that consumes energy and emits carbon. Hydrogen is also dangerous to store and transport, he has said.
Still, hydrogen-fuelled cars have two main advantages over their battery-powered rivals, said Salim Morsy, a New-York based analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
“They are faster to refuel and have much longer ranges than electric ones,” the analyst said. “It can take just five minutes to refuel a hydrogen car for a range of 400 miles, compared to up to a seven hour charge for an electric vehicle to travel just 200 miles.”
Linde says Energiepark Mainz could help put an end to the criticism that hydrogen fuel cells are only marginally more environmentally friendly than traditional combustion vehicles, and allow the gas to be extracted anywhere there’s wind and water. BMW AG is also starting tests of a vehicle powered by hydrogen this month.
More details about hydrogen and the fueling stations being built in tho original article.
.
Discover The Toyota Mirai
.
Next Page »
Pages: 1 2
