Hydrogen highway for the West Coast? How 'bout you add biofuel and CNG and plugs?
OK, even though the plan to put up the Hydrogen Highway in California has run into trouble, an even bigger, bolder infrastructure plan is gaining ground along the West Coast. The Governors of Washington, Oregon and California are talking about an alt-fuel/alt-energy refueling corridor running up I-5. The fuel and energy types in a series of multi-fuel stations would include hydrogen (natch), compressed natural gas, biodiesel, ethanol, EV charging stations and battery swap stations. That might sound like a good idea to anyone who wants to reduce driver's dependence on gasoline, but the problem is that these omni-fuel/energy stations would be state-sponsored. This bothers private refueling station owners, says the Seattle Times. They will have at least a little time to hone their arguments, since there are still "layers of local and federal approval" that need to be cleared; the first such stations could be built in Washington State this summer.
[Source: Seattle Times]Photo by Broken Chord. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris M 1:26AM (3/17/2009)
I'm not opposed to governments owning and running businesses - if they are well run by competent people, and there is a valid reason for the government to own and run them. I sincerely doubt that applies in this case.
More likely, it would become a boondoggle, with site selection based on politics, management appointees based on political patronage, and inept marketing. After years of losses, it would probably be sold for pennies on the dollar to people who can make a go of it, or scrapped.
Better to let private enterprise do the job. Project Better Place is already making plans to design and build battery swapping facilities and several companies are planning public charging facilities. As for H2 filling, let oil companies like Shell and Chevron risk their own substantial profits on it.
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Noz 2:54AM (3/17/2009)
First off, oil companies have no real interest in H2. They are interested in oil. The most any oil company has spent on ANY alternative energy venture and research in the last year was BP...which blew a HUGE 3.8% of their revenue on alternative stuff. Exxon did the least. So it shows no initiative on their part.
Second, PBP is a rehash of what was tried decades ago by MB....and didn't work. It's a scam and an easily corrupt business model.
Chris M 10:13PM (3/28/2009)
Excuse me, but 3.8% of several hundred billion dollars is... still a lot of money. Same for the H2 expenditures of Chevron and Exxon, and Shell has even built a "public" H2 filling station in LA and Iceland. But they'd much rather have the government fund the building of those H2 stations, then turn around and sell them to the oil companies for pennies on the dollar. That makes a much better return than investing their own oil wealth.
gorr 11:34AM (3/17/2009)
I said and i repeat to build hydrogen stations and convert existing car, new or used to hydrogen ice operation for almost free fuel now, then slowly evolve toward the flying car.
Each and everything goverment have done in the past was catastrophic in the energy domain because it's their jobs of collecting energy for their own ( tax) and lie about it saying it's for the common good which is a lie. They have provoked this economic crisis with high tax, silly destructive projects like the war in irak, tons of regulations mandating to destroy anything like their corn ethanol project and tons of studies on everything and never never have push for a good solutions. Now they stop the world with battery mandate that each car manufacturers have said it just don't work. Toyota, gm etc are just pais criminals working for goverments and big oil. Don't buy any car anymore until you can grab a copy of d. dingel car that move forward with water but is painfully carburated, so now no green car exist to buy. The offerings for green cars is zero. We are heading for a mad max 2 kind of reality here in north america and it's the fault of everyone except me.
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chris 9:01PM (3/28/2009)
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