How do we produce hydrogen?
Nations around the world are recognizing the potential of hydrogen as a fuel. The ability to manufacture and utilize available resources is practical on many environmental, economic and social levels.
In British Columbia, a hydrogen supply infrastructure is being strategically developed to support a variety of projects, such as a demonstration fleet of hydrogen and fuel cell automobiles operating in Vancouver, the world’s largest fleet of fuel cell buses that will begin operation in Whistler in 2010, and for distributed power use in a remote community.
To encourage an evolutionary path to the production of clean hydrogen in British Columbia, hydrogen is provided to these projects in a clean and economical manner.
Safety & regulations
Waste
In most cases, hydrogen is a manufactured fuel. But in North Vancouver, a chlor-alkali plant is the source of a hydrogen-rich by-product waste stream. This facility significantly reduces the financial cost and energy required to provide 99.995% pure hydrogen, enough to power 20,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles per year.
Electrolysis
Two fuelling stations in British Columbia produce hydrogen through the electrolysis of water using electricity generated from hydroelectric power. Electrolysis uses an electric current to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Both stations then store the hydrogen fuel in pressurized storage cylinders and dispense it to power fuel cell automobiles and buses.
Solar power
A hydrogen station on the campus of the University of British Columbia utilizes renewable energy to create alternative energy. An electrolyser, powered by a photovoltaic array during daylight and augmented by the power grid during cloudy weather and at night, produces 7 kW peak power and 20 kg of hydrogen storage. This system reduce greenhouse gas emissions in comparison to typical merchant hydrogen which is processed from natural gas, releasing CO2 in the process.
Compressed delivery
New aluminum-lined, light-weight carbon fibre cylinders store high pressure hydrogen and are transported on roadways via a standard transport trailer. Ten cylinders, which store more hydrogen than traditional methods, reduce the number of truck trips required to distribute hydrogen fuel to both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicle fuelling stations, thereby lowering greenhouse gas emissions and extending the life of highway infrastructure.