The long-awaited "Hydrogen Highway" just took a detour to a sanitation treatment plant, the one right next to the 405 Freeway in Fountain Valley to be precise.
There's a reason for locating a filling station here.
"We take sewer treatment plant gas and we produce electricity and hydrogen," explained Jack Brouwer, PhD, an Asst. Professor of Engineering at UC Irvine and Associate Director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center, which spearheaded the project.
California's Hydrogen Highway: Stations, Cars and Buses | CHH Updates | Infrastructure
Brouwer is among those who see hydrogen as the fuel of the future for the automobile of the future, powered by a "fuel cell" in which hydrogen reacts chemicaly with oxygen to produce electricity to run an electric motor. If you remember your high school chemistry, you know that means the only byproduct is water.
There are already hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road, but at this stage, only a few hundred in all of Southern Califfornia. One of them is a Honda Clarity leased by Jim Salomon, a Newport Beach general contractor who became the first to use the new hydrogen- from- sewage filling station. "I believe this is the future of the auto," Salomon said as he drove off, accompanied by the distinctive hum of a fuel cell.
"A Hydrogen economy is a fantastic route to energy independence and environmental benefits," said Tom Mutchler, VP of Engineering for Air Products, which operates 20 hydrogen refueling stations in California with hydrogen produced the traditional way from water and natural gas.
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Fountain Valley is the first to use hydrogen produced from sewage gas, not just in California, but anywhere.
But Brouwer thinks it will happen eventually, and says major automakers seem to agree. Toyota and Hyundai have both announced plans to market fuel cell autos in 2015.
"This is a paradigm shift," said National Fuel Cell Research Center director Scott Samuelsen. "We'll be truly fuel-independent and no longer held hostage by other countries. This is the epitome of sustainability, where we're taking an endless stream of human waste and transforming it to transportation fuel and electricity. This is the first time this has ever been done."
The concept of a "Hydrogen Highway" in California had been pushed by Arnold Schwarzenegger during his governship. Now, with help from sewage, its' moving forward.
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