11. Creating a hydrogen gas station network for the LightningH
Let's start with simple.
[Note: I published this article 2.5 years ago in Hydrogen Fuel news. I’ll drop it into this substack to illustrate how easy it would be to begin providing hydrogen fuel for larger, long-distance vehicles (including modified versions of the self-driving big-rig diesel-powered semi’s that are already being tested on our Interstate Highways). Start with 100 gas stations that produce their own hydrogen from electricity and water; rinse and repeat as the need grows.]
From - June 16, 2021, Hydrogen Fuel News:
“By: Bob Meyer
From here to there and back again…
If the Ford F150 Lightning Project Manager Linda Zhang read my June 1st Hydrogen Fuel News article describing a hydrogen-powered 1000-mile LightningH. (https://tinyurl.com/33syb2dz), she may be converting their EV truck into a long-distance hydrogen cruiser as we speak. 😉 When Ford gets it right, the LightningH might quickly replace the incredibly popular gasoline-powered F150 and could sell a million copies a year, with 10 million on our highways by 2035.
But – Those clean and green trucks won’t sell rapidly without reliable access to fuel. To avoid an unnecessary bottleneck, let’s jump-start a country-wide hydrogen network right now.
Where to begin?
The long-haul trucking industry will build an initial set of hydrogen stations to power their upcoming self-driving big rigs. I talked with their reps at a SEPA conference 2 1/2 years ago — they said they’d be happy to fuel our smaller vehicles, too. But, they’ll focus first on a few highways: I-10, I-40… the good-weather, high-value arteries. Let’s instead build our own network – one that can refuel a long-distance hydrogen vehicle anywhere in the U.S. That’s the jump-start that’s been missing. Elon did it for Tesla – he’s approaching a thousand Supercharger stations in the U.S. alone. Let’s begin with 10% of that number and grow it from there.
The U.S. has a huge advantage – a wonderful Interstate highway system with four lanes not far from anyone. (Thanks, Ike!) That’s where Ford and the USDOE’s Jennifer Granholm and Jigar Shaw should team up to subsidize rapid installations of hydrogen fuel stations. They can offer funds & extended incentives to 100 service stations that have the space to install an electrolyzer (the gadget that extracts hydrogen from water) and some hydrogen storage tanks. (While we’re at it, let’s be sure to standardize the hydrogen pumps such that any brand of H-powered vehicle will be able to easily tap in. The battery-vehicle charging network has developed without that feature – it’s complicated to use, as a result.)
The total cost of our 100 H-stations will be about $320 million, based on an NREL article. That’s a reasonable investment to provide deal-making support for a huge new industry. The stations will have ever-increasing access to green (zero-CO2) electricity. (More on that in a future article. Hint: It will involve high-voltage DC power lines fed by solar panels in the southwest and wind turbines in the heartland.) The H-stations will extract and store hydrogen from water on-the-spot, often relieving the grid of excess electricity when wind and solar produce more than other customers can use.
Given the LightningH’s thousand-mile range, let’s consider what first-adopters (like you and me, I suspect) might like to see on a “HydroGen Station, Version 1” map. At a minimum and just to get the trucks rolling, I’d like to have fuel within 200 miles of anywhere I drive. When I’m towing a travel trailer and my range is reduced to 500 miles, I could comfortably arrive with plenty to spare. (I could also park the trailer to regain full range, but let’s not make things difficult. 😉) To meet a goal of less than 200 miles to a station, our map fills out as shown below. (Note: California already has about 50 H-stations operating on their hydrogen highway. That’s great, but let’s keep our map simple for the moment.)
Our “starter” network of hydrogen fuel stations
This looks like a lot of stations, but there are about 110,000 gasoline stations in the U.S. As we evolve to an all-electric country, we can gradually replace those with perhaps 2500 H-stations by 2050’s E-equilibrium.
Why the huge decrease in gas stations over the next few decades? Within a decade or two, I suspect that most around-town traveling will be via millions of small, shared, on-demand self-driving electric cars, with longer-range hydrogen-fueled vans covering the routine intercity commutes. Given tap-a-cellphone access to an Uber-like driverless vehicle waiting a few blocks away, with no need to park downtown plus a tap-a-phone ride back home with the groceries and kids, transportation will be quick and convenient. These vehicles will have no need for gasoline stations. The expense of owning a second car will no longer make much sense, and trips for those who don’t drive will be simple and safe as well. The hydrogen refueling stations will be there to support longer trips. And, H-refueling with your solar-powered home electrolyzer could be standard fare by then, too.
The fleet of H-vehicles will also become a backbone of the renewable economy, supplying electricity to the grid whenever solar and wind output drops off. The Lightning platform has been designed by Ford to back up our electrical grid as needed. Ten million 580 kWh LightningH’s parked throughout the country, incentivized and volunteered to help when the Smart Grid calls, could make up to 5000 GWh available when needed. (More on that in a future article, but for now: That’s a LOT of nicely distributed energy storage.)
With our 100-station investment supporting vehicles like the long-distance LightningH, range anxiety will dwindle. Given the advantages built into the Lightning platform (read that June 1st 2021 HFN article again, please) and expansion of financial incentives encouraging us to buy electric, why would I ever again drive a gasoline-burner?” (End of republished June 16, 2021 Hydrogen Fuel News article.)
[Note: 2.5 years later, this still looks to be a simple and economical way to jumpstart a new, green industry. (Deliver the eggs: chickens will appear.) 😉 The network will grow as needed, supported by profits from hydrogen fuel sales. -Bob, January 1, 2025]