Research into hydrogen, including working with energy companies to build an infrastructure, is part of our overall efforts to address the challenges of climate change and energy independence.
BP continues to support our research into hydrogen by building the needed infrastructure to fuel our hydrogen fleet vehicles.
An Important Milestone
The opening of a second hydrogen station in Florida marked an important milestone toward the use of hydrogen as a viable fuel for the future.
The new hydrogen station will fuel a fleet of Ford Focus fuel cell vehicles. One of the fleet’s vehicles will give the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) park rangers a pollution-free ride during everyday operations at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Two more vehicles are driven by DEP’s Central Regulatory District for field inspections. The remaining three vehicles will be used by Progress Energy’s energy-efficiency specialists and customer account managers at their Jamestown Operations Center.
Hydrogen Demonstration Project
The opening of the new hydrogen fuel station is one facet of the hydrogen demonstration project, part of an initiative unveiled in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Energy. Through the federal government’s Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project, we supplied the Florida DEP and Progress Energy with six hydrogen-powered Ford Focus fuel cell vehicles. BP America supplies the vehicles with hydrogen fuel through a grant from the state of Florida.
This program is an example of how we’re working collaboratively with government agencies, energy companies and the auto industry to assess the potential of hydrogen as an alternative fuel.
First Hydrogen Station
Committed to exploring the potential of hydrogen, Florida opened two hydrogen fuel stations in six months. For the first station, located in Orlando, we worked with Chevron and Progress Energy Florida. That station fuels four Ford Hydrogen-powered shuttle buses used at the Orlando airport and provides a test platform for showcasing the production, storage and dispensing of hydrogen fuel.
History of our Work with Hydrogen
We first began working on hydrogen technology in the early 1990s. Our first hydrogen internal combustion engine demonstration vehicle, released in 2001, was based on a lightweight aluminum sedan body, which also was used in the development of our first drivable hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
We currently have a fleet of 30 hydrogen powered Focus fuel cell vehicles on the road as part of a worldwide, seven-city program to conduct real world testing of fuel cell technology. The fleet has accumulated more than 650,000 miles since its inception. With this fleet on the ground, information is being generated in different local environmental conditions that can be integrated into future fuel cell vehicle propulsion systems.