Will the US ever have a hydrogen fueling network across the country?

Will the US ever have a hydrogen fueling network across the country?

September 24, 2022 1 By Angela Linders

The California Fuel Cell Partnership is now a national organization called Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership

The California Fuel Cell Partnership nonprofit recently announced that it has become a national organization and, as such, has changed its name to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership (HFCP) as it works to implement and broaden the country’s hydrogen fueling network.

The announcement was made at the largest North American clean energy industry event, RE+.

The HFPC’s change in name occurred about 23 years after the original launch of the government-industry collaboration. It is being seen as an important reflection of the importance now being placed on expanding the national hydrogen fueling network in order to make the use of H2 viable throughout the United States.

Among the leading challenges currently faced by the adoption of H2 as a fuel is the lack of infrastructure. This is particularly true when it comes to transportation such as trucking.

“The change in name further enables our members to work across the country to share information, best practices and lessons learned by all of our members,” explained HFCP chair and Iwatani Corporation of America CEO Joseph Cappello.

The HFPC changed its name as a national hydrogen fueling network strategy is being launched.

The organization has had to broaden its outlook and goals as the Partnership moves beyond the borders of California and takes on an H2 mobility strategy across the country instead. Its aim is to accelerate the expansion of H2 production and distribution in order to support the zero-emission fuel’s use in heavy-duty trucking as well as that of light-duty use throughout the US.

Through this strategy, the idea is to make sure that ports, urban centers and key commercial locations will all be effectively linked with H2 hubs throughout the US.

hydrogen fueling stations hubs

“When the Partnership published its first roadmap outlining how California could launch the world’s first fuel cell car market, there were no retail stations or vehicles available. Many questioned if stakeholders could pull off such a feat,” said HFCP Executive Director Bill Elrick in a news release about the name change and hydrogen fuel network strategy. “A decade later, with increasing global recognition of the importance of hydrogen in achieving our zero-emission vehicle and renewable energy objectives, we are more certain that this is a necessary and achievable objective. Hydrogen is no longer a question of ‘if’; rather, it is one of ‘who leads and where first’?”

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