![]() Its state legislature passed a law two years ago requiring Hawaii to be 100 percent renewably powered by 2045. Department of Energy reports that Hawaii is the state most actively deploying hydrogen fuel cell technology as an energy source. In the private sector, Blue Planet Research is testing a pilot hydrogen energy storage system supported by a 100 percent renewable microgrid at Puu Waa Ranch on the Big Island. Blue Planet Research has a contract with NASA to develop and operate an energy microgrid system for a habitat on Mars. What Blue Planet Research learns from the pilot in Hawaii will be useful for its NASA contract, deploying hydrogen for energy storage over extended time frames on standalone microgrids that will power a Mars station.Īnd the test is likely to inform decisions and political will in Hawaii. Other state-backed hydrogen projects are under discussion and include grid storage. The Hawaii Department of Transportation is deploying a fleet of hydrogen buses at its airports. Short driving destinations in Hawaii is one reason the state is so well positioned for hydrogen fuel cells, Osserman said. Three are in place and six more stations are planned. The 260-mile to 300-mile range a driver can get from a fuel cell vehicle is enough to drive around one of the state's islands and make it back to a fueling station. Range isn't a problem in HawaiiĪs an island state, people don't drive to other states from Hawaii. So if you buy a hydrogen fuel cell car in California, you may be happy driving around the state, but when you cross into Nevada you can be out of luck. In the United States, for example, the Hyundai Tuscon is only sold in California because that is the only state with a network of hydrogen fueling stations. The challenge for hydrogen fuel cells, Osserman and others argue, is not the limitations of the technology but the lack of infrastructure supporting it. Hydrogen is becoming a viable storage vehicle for grid and for transportation." ![]() "Those efforts are really paying off in the last five or 10 years. "The last push on hydrogen technology was 10 or 12 years ago and a lot of patents are now up, so other companies can pick up on those technologies and make them more affordable in applications," he told GreenBiz. Those two qualities make hydrogen an attractive alternative. Hydrogen fuel cells hold many times the storage capacity than lithium-based batteries, Osserman noted, and they are light. So it makes sense to store the excess capacity for use at night. Photovoltaic solar panels on a sunny day in Hawaii collect more energy than can be used in real time. On Hawaii’s electric system, hydrogen fuel cells already are being deployed to store excess energy on solar and wind generation systems. "The transportability of it is important for transportation and the cost of storage is its advantage for the grid." "Hydrogen is very lightweight energy, and it can be stored in large capacities for days, months or years and it is still there," he said. Air Force Research Lab in Hawaii, so he has plenty of experience to figure out the science and economics and help Hawaii realize its goals. general, he managed a $22 million portfolio of renewable energy and alternative fuel transportation projects for the U.S. By state law passed two years ago, he officially was designated "State Hydrogen Implementation Coordinator." His background makes him well qualified for this position. Osserman is not just a proponent of hydrogen. "We are naturally positioned to exploit hydrogen as an energy source," said Stan Osserman, director of the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies, who is on a mission to deploy hydrogen in Hawaii. And in Hawaii - which faces a deadline to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045 - hydrogen fuel is seen as one of the most promising technologies to reach that destination. The obstacles of a decade ago - the large size format and weight of fuel cells and fear of hydrogen - largely have been overcome by innovations in size and safety. Meanwhile, Amazon is deploying Plug Power hydrogen fuel cell powered forklifts in its distribution centers and UPS has begun testing use of hydrogen fuel cell delivery trucks in some markets.
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