Hydrogen Infrastructure Development
Currently, few hydrogen fueling stations exist. Knowledge about hydrogen fueling infrastructure is being accumulated through demonstration projects, which will provide valuable data as hydrogen vehicles begin to penetrate the market in significant numbers. This page provides resources for developing hydrogen fueling infrastructure and information on government activities supporting infrastructure development.
Safety, Codes, and Standards
Current approaches to hydrogen and fuel cell safety, codes, and standards are based on existing practices from the chemical and aerospace industries. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is coordinating the efforts of codes and standards organizations to develop new, more appropriate codes and standards that will ensure the safe use of hydrogen for a multitude of transportation and stationary applications. See the following resources:
DOE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Safety, Codes & Standards provides a wealth of information on current safety, codes, and standards as well as descriptions of DOE activities in this area.
The fact sheet Hydrogen Safety (PDF 386 KB) briefly summarizes hydrogen safety issues. Download Adobe Reader.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory studies issues related to hydrogen and fuel cell commercialization. See its Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Permitting Guide.
The DOE Hydrogen Program Safety page provides information on hydrogen safety for first responders and a hydrogen safety bibliographic database.
The SourceBook for Hydrogen Applications, developed with support from DOE and the Canadian government, contains guidelines on the safe design and operation of hydrogen systems.
The National Hydrogen Association publishes Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Safety.
Layout showing setbacks required for hydrogen fueling stations (Source DOE HFCIT Program)
Hydrogen Information, Advocacy, and Equipment
The following organizations provide information about hydrogen and fuel cell equipment, technology, standards, safety, policy, advocacy, and more:
- National Hydrogen Association, includes a Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Product Catalog
- U.S. Fuel Cell Council, includes a list of commercially available fuel cell products (PDF 74 KB) Download Adobe Reader
- Gas Technology Institute
- FuelMaker Corporation
Find national and state hydrogen and fuel cell organizations using the AFDC Hydrogen/Fuel Cell Vehicles Related Links page.
Training
Visit the AFDC Technician Training for Alternative Fuels page to learn about organizations that provide hydrogen vehicle and infrastructure training. For educational resources, see the DOE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Education page.
Demonstration Projects
In addition to the technical challenges being addressed through research and development, there are obstacles to successful implementation of fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure that can only be addressed by integrating the components into complete systems. DOE is developing and testing complete system solutions that address all elements of infrastructure and vehicle technology, validating integrated hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for transportation, infrastructure, and electric generation in a systems context under real-world operating conditions. See the DOE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Technology Validation and National Renewable Energy Laboratory Hydrogen Technology Validation pages.
U.S. Hydrogen Transportation Demonstrations
- DOE National Hydrogen Learning Demonstration
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Evaluation for California Transit Agencies
- Integrated Projects (includes domestic and international projects)
- Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles