Fuel Cell Vehicles to Hit Hawaii
General Motors (GM) announced on December 8, 2010 its part to test fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fueling infrastructure in Hawaii. In a release issued by GM it was reported that “ten companies, agencies and universities have joined an initiative between The Gas Company (TGC), and General Motors to make hydrogen-powered vehicles and a fueling infrastructure a reality in Hawaii by 2015.” The plan (called the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative; or H2I) aims to “integrate hydrogen as an essential building block for Hawaii’s sustainable energy ecosystem.” The GM release further commented that the partners are currently looking at methods to distribute hydrogen through natural and existing pipelines while also addressing the present issue of how to cost effectively produce and distribute hydrogen. According to the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, the state is the most fuel dependent in the country because it imports so much fossil fuel and has very high electricity and liquid fuel prices compared to its mainland counterparts. According to Martin LaMonica of CNET’s Green Tech, “to lessen Hawaii’s dependence on fossil fuels, the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative is trying to address one of the toughest challenges to fuel cell vehicle adoption–the lack of distribution infrastructure. We’ll stay tuned to see if the Initiative reaches its goal over the next five years.
December 15th, 2010