First UK Hydrogen Highway for Fuel Cell Cars

Proposals to establish the first hydrogen highway in the UK were unveiled by the Mayor of London on August 26th 2009. The UK’s initial hydrogen highway will be sited across London and will comprise of a web of hydrogen filling stations – an infrastructure for hydrogen-powered cars to operate within.

The creation of the London hydrogen highway will involve collecting together an initial assortment of hydrogen vehicles in advance of the 2012 Olympic Games, which are being held in England’s capital city. These will include buses, cars and taxis.

London Hydrogen Highway

The London hydrogen highway will in some ways mirror that in operation in California, which was reported earlier this year as having 24 hydrogen refuelling sites in all. California’s hydrogen highway was created via the direction of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who kick-started the scheme off in 2005.

As far as London is concerned, the highway will coincide with, and complement, the creation of 25,000 charging sites for electric cars.

“Harnessing low-carbon technology is key to solving the pressing issues of energy security, cutting climate change emissions and improving air quality”, London Mayor Boris Johnson advised representatives of the media. “With electric vehicles gearing up to become a mainstream choice in a few years’ time, we are creating the right conditions for them to flourish.”

New Fuel Cell Technologies

Previously, Johnson has expressed a wish for Britain to be at the global forefront of new fuel cell technologies and officials affiliated with him forecast that, by around 2030, hydrogen power could drive up to one third of Britain’s car population.

“We think it’s going to be pretty big”, London Hydrogen Board Chairman and Deputy Mayor of London, Kit Malthouse stated. “We plan an initial network of six or so hydrogen fuelling stations around the capital. We would then be able to fuel the next generation of vehicles.”

Earlier this month, Enviro-News wrote of how researchers at Boston tech complex MIT were developing a quick-recharge electric car which could be topped up in about 11 minutes. Their vision is to showcase that electric cars capable of being charged within this kind of time period are achievable, viable and market-appropriate, once costs can be reduced.