Air Liquide to open new hydrogen fuel stations in Europe

Air Liquide to open new hydrogen fuel stations in Europe

March 19, 2013 0 By Erin Kilgore

Air Liquide Hydrogen Fuel Stations

Air Liquide plans for new hydrogen fuel stations in Europe by 2014

Air Liquide, a leading industrial gases company, has major plans for the future of hydrogen fuel. The company has been a strong supporter of hydrogen for several years, as hydrogen is widely used in several industries. Recently, hydrogen-powered transportation has been growing in popularity, highlighting the lack of a comprehensive infrastructure capable of supporting clean transportation. Air Liquide is one of the organizations that is in a position to address the infrastructure problem and has been doing so for some time. In 2014, the company is expected to become more aggressive on the infrastructure issue.

New stations to be operational in Germany, UK, and Belgium

Air Liquide has announced that by 2014 it will design and install three new high-capacity hydrogen fuel stations in the cities of Bremen, Germany, Birmingham, UK, and Brussels, Belgium. These new stations are a part of a European project called the Demonstration of Small 4-Wheel Fuel Cell Passenger Vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal Transport, often called SWARM. The SWARM project aims to demonstrate the capabilities of 90 hydrogen-powered vehicles throughout Europe, representing the largest experiment of this kind in the world.

Air Liquide participating in SWARM project

The SWARM fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles will be supported by the infrastructure that companies like Air Liquide create. Without hydrogen fuel stations, demonstrating the practicality of these vehicles would be relatively difficult. The SWARM project aims to show consumers and state governments the benefits of owning hydrogen-powered vehicles, and relying on private fueling tanks attached to mobile fuel stations is not considered a viable way to demonstrate the capabilities of hydrogen transportation.

Hydrogen fuel infrastructure vital to the success of next generation vehicles

Hydrogen fuel has captured the support of most of the auto industry. Many automakers have been developing hydrogen-powered vehicles for several years and plan to launch these vehicles by 2017, if not sooner. Infrastructure will be the deciding factor in whether hydrogen transportation is successful or not. Air Liquide, as well as other companies, has been working to ensure that an appropriate hydrogen fuel infrastructure is in place before these new vehicles are commercialized.

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