A new hydrogen refueling station supplied by the Danish company Hynor Lillestrｸm AS will be installed just outside Oslo, Norway in summer 2011. Together with another planned Oslo hydrogen station in 2011, this means Norway will have one of the worlda4ぎa4г most dense hydrogen refueling networks.
Hydrogen is produced byあsplitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.あThe hydrogen is compressed and stored in the vehicle. Most hydrogen vehiclesあreact hydrogen with oxygen in aあfuel cell to run electric motors. So effectively a fuel-cell vehicle is a form of electric vehicle.
Pike Research predicts that 37 percent of the 2.8 million fuel-cell vehicles sold by 2020 will be in Western Europe, 36 percent will be in the Asia-Pacific region and just 25 percent will be in North America. Several major automakers have recently announced their intentions to get fuel-cell models into showrooms by 2015.
Norway opened its first hydrogen station in Stavanger in 2003. Since then, an additional three stations have opened, and 20 hydrogen vehicles have been put into operation. あSimilar efforts are underway in Sweden and Denmark through a joint collaboration effort called Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership (SHHP).
TheあSHHPあplans to haveあat least 15 hydrogen stations in place by 2015. Presently seven stations are in operation and a further three stations are under construction.あThe public support for R&'D and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Scandinavia is in the range of a4sｬ40-50 million ($53-66 million) per year. In Norway and Denmark there is no car registration tax on hydrogen vehicles. Normally, car registration taxes can be up to 180% of the base vehicle price.
The new station will feature on-site hydrogen production and 700-bar refueling in a few minutes.あ700 bar is the pressure under which the hydrogen is stored onboard the vehicle. The higher the pressure, the more hydrogen is stored onboard and the longer the range of the vehicle on one refueling. The station will include an alkaline electrolyzer enabling production of hydrogen using electricity from solar panels.
Refueling time is 2.6 minutes, excluding handling time. The range of a hydrogen vehicle varies but can be up to 800 km (Toyota). So hydrogen enables an electric vehicle to have a similar range to a gasoline-powered vehicle and a similar refueling time. Hydrogen fuel cells can also be used to power anything from homes andあmobile phones to entire mobile networks.
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Companies: Hynor Lillestrｸm
Companies: Hynor Lillestrｸm
Ciara Byrne is a full time techie and part-time writer. She has worked as a software developer, team lead, engineering manager and mobile standards expert. Ciara is based in Amsterdam and her interests include creative companies, useful technology, torture by piano and cycling in high heels. Follow her on Twitter at @deciara.
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