Shell opens hydrogen station for fuel cells

In what Shell iscalling the third of five steps to providing power for fuel cell vehicles, liquefiedhydrogen from Sarnia, Ontario,is being trucked to Washington, DC, for the world's firsthydrogen dispenser at a retail gas station.

At first, the Benning Roadstation will only service the six GM fuel cell vehicles used by members of the U.S. congress,so it won't have much of an impact.

But that singleShell station is a critical move toward allowing the Dutch firm to set up amini-network of Lighthouse Projects of hydrogen stations, which would befollowed by a decade of work spent ''connecting those mini-networks withcorridors and filling in the white spaces.''

That was the wayShell Hydrogen CEO Jeremy Bentham outlined his company's plans, at any rate,while freely admitting it was going to be expensive to develop. ''It's notgoing to be a cheap activity to bring hydrogen to refueling stations,'' Benthamsaid, ''But it's not cheap to bring gasoline to them, either."

In Bentham'sview, then, the first hydrogen station marked ''the next major step in ShellHydrogen's effort to make a substantial advance and move research further intoreality. It represents a real-world urban-driving scenario to demonstratehydrogen cars and refueling.''

According toLarry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development and planning, theonly way the hydrogen economy will come about is if local communities,government, energy companies and automotive companies work together, as theyare with the Washingtonstation.

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GM's fuel cell-powered Hy-Wire (photo: General Motors)

'The only waythe hydrogen economy will be realized is having not only fuel cell vehicles,''Burns said, ''but also convenient places to refuel and local communities thatwill support this transition to a new energy source.''

In Burns's view,the opening of this station is indeed an ''historic moment. We will look backon this day and realize that it was a watershed moment -- the moment when westarted down a new path to a future where we have readily available hydrogen,made from renewable feedstocks, to power our vehicles and energize oureconomy."

Shell's businessstrategy for the hydrogen market is pretty clear, Bentham said. ''Our aim is tobecome the market leader in a growing industry that will provide hydrogenalongside improved traditional fuels to customers enjoying new generations ofattractive vehicles.''

To meet itscustomers' wishes for this attractive fuel, Bentham said, Shell is focusedtoday on large scale demonstration projects -- the so-called ''LighthouseProjects'' -- that create mini-networks of hydrogen fueling stations inspecific cities or regions of the continent.

''TheseLighthouse Projects will bring together governments and several energy and autocompanies to hasten full commercialization of hydrogen as a transportationfuel,'' Bentham predicted.

Based on Shell'sanalysis, Bentham said, Lighthouse Projects should include:

-fleets buildingup to 100 vehicles and more

-fueled frommini-networks of 4-6 integrated hydrogen/gasoline stations

-have bothsemi-commercial and publicly subsidized elements, and

-focus ontransportation in urbanized area