Australia’s First Hydrogen Car Launched, with Solar Refueller

[nationalize the fed]

RenewEconomy.com.au |Sophie Vorrath | 1 April 2015

Nearly four months after its arrival on Australian soil, the nation’s first hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicle has been officially unveiled in Sydney, alongside another first – a solar powered hydrogen refuelling station...

...In December, the company flagged its plans to build its own solar powered hydrogen refueller, as well as its own electrolyser, in partnership with Australian company Sefca.



The hydrogen electrolyser was also to be powered by the solar array, making the whole operation fully self-sustainable, with hydrogen made on-site...

...“The potential to produce hydrogen from renewable solar and wind energy, particularly for fuel cell powered electric vehicles, is of significant interest and potential economic benefit for Australia,” said CEFC CEO Oliver Yates. “The refuelling facility at Ryde in Sydney will generate hydrogen from solar panels – demonstrating that you can bottle sunshine to refuel cars,” he said...MORE
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/australias-first-hydrogen-car-launched-with-solar-refueller-63637

It’s not an April Fools joke: Hyundai unveils hydrogen powered car

"It runs on hydrogen, you can actually make the hydrogen with water and electricity."
Audio: http://www.3aw.com.au/news/its-not-an-april-fools-joke-hyundai-unveils-hydrogen-powered-car-20150331-1mcgjn.html

Australia kicks off plans for ‘Hydrogen Highway’

Australia’s Industry and Science Minister Ian Macfarlane has unveiled the country’s first cell passenger vehicle as well as its first hydrogen refuelling station as part of plans for a ‘hydrogen highway’.

The Hyundai SUV ix35 Fuel Cell arrived in Australia in June 2014 and has been undergoing operational trials since.

The official unveiling was accompanied by the installation of Australia’s first solar powered hydrogen refuelling station at Hyundai Motor Company Australia’s Macquarie Park headquarters.

The site is currently using hydrogen provided by gas partner Coregas Australia, but soon to be creating its own hydrogen onsite through the use of an electrolyser and harnessing solar power...
http://evfleetworld.co.uk/news/2015/Apr/Australia-kicks-off-plans-for-8216Hydrogen-Highway8217/0438019211

Looks like some in Australia can grasp the concept of renewable hydrogen produced from solar energy.
Like England:

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Meanwhile, in the US: Chorus of Outrage as Obama Administration Approves Arctic Drilling for Shell Oil

Department of the Interior ignoring its own report on threat to climate, say environmental groups

Environmental activists expressed shock and outrage on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of the Interior upheld a 2008 lease sale on the Arctic's Chuchki Sea, opening the door for continued oil exploration in a region long eyed for drilling by Shell Corporation and increasingly strained under the effects of climate change...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6447075

Obama the Fracker continues on with yesterday's dirty energy policies.

[DetlefK]

1. Imagine "Mad Max"-bikers fighting over solar-cells in post-apocalyptic Australia.

They still need water though. With the pumping, cleaning and de-ionizing, I wonder how much energy the water-part of this "free" fuel costs.

[nationalize the fed]

2. Australia is surrounded by water

In Australia many desalination plants are utilizing wind farms to produce enough energy to operate nearby desalination plants. For example, the Kurnell Desalination Plant, with a capacity of producing 250 million liters (ML) of drinking water per day, supplies 15% of Sydney’s water needs via RO technology and is powered using “100 percent renewable energy” from the 140 MW Capital Wind Farm

Perth plant

About 1.5 million people occupy the Perth region in the south western corner of Western Australia. The Perth Seawater Desalination Plant (PSDP) was installed in late 2006 to produce up to 45 gigalitres of potable water per year. In addition, its brine discharge has been shown to have no adverse impact on the environment. The plant buys its power from electricity generated by the Emu Downs Wind Farm, located 200 kilometers north of Perth. The 83 megawatt wind farm consists of 48 wind turbines and contributes over 272 giga-watt-hours (GWhr) per year into the grid, fully offsetting the Perth SWRO Plant’s estimated electrical requirement of 180 GWhr per year.[20] The plant has attracted interest from the world’s water industry and media, and has won numerous national and international awards including the International Desalination Association’s International Desalination Plant of the Year in 2007...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater_desalination_in_Australia

[NYC_SKP]

5. Oh no. Desalination Claptrap now?

"International Desalination Association’s International Desalination Plant of the Year in 2007"


The presence of a desalination plant is an indication that our species is living beyond the area's carrying capacity.

If you think that the fact that a plant is wind or solar powered means it's sustainable, then you're going to have to back and study harder.

Look, with the climate changing and population still rising, and the ecological footprint/person growing, we need to do this:

Move AWAY from intrusive technologies, not ADD to them.

Magic hydrogen cars and stations and desal plants? Oh hell no.

Bicycles and conservation and living smaller lives with simpler tools, this might save us.

[dumbcat]

3. Grasping the concept is not hard

Looks like some in Australia can grasp the concept of renewable hydrogen produced from solar energy.

It's grasping the economics that seems to be the challenge.

I want to buy one of those solar powered hydrogen refueling stations. How much does one cost? How much H2 does it produce per day? Enough just for my car, or for several?

Where can I buy (not lease) a hydrogen fuel cell car in the US?

[caraher]

4. Today, you've got no options unless you're a millionaire

Our resident hydrogen booster loves to post the article about the guy who has his own setup in (I think) New Jersey that cost north of a half million dollars.

I'm sure you'll get the usual cascade of links shortly...