U.S. Energy Department partners for hydrogen and fuel cell infrastructure

The U.S. Energy Department has partnered with both private and public sectors to develop the country’s hydrogen infrastructure, dubbed “H2USA.”

H2USA is partnership of hydrogen and fuel cell industries with government agencies, automakers, and gasoline suppliers. Stakeholders will begin research to identify cost-effective infrastructure to develop affordable, clean hydrogen fuel in the U.S., creating more sustainable and less dependency on the current gasoline industry.

Current members in the partnership include American Gas Association, California Fuel Cell Partnership, the Electric Drive Transportation Association, the U.S. division of Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Toyota Motor, and Proton Onsite.

Fuel cell electric vehicles, or FCEVs, are powered by hydrogen, the most simple and abundant element in the universe. FCEVs offer performance, quiet operation, zero emissions into the air and ozone layer and have the power of fully electric vehicles.

The U.S.’s recent development of the shale gas resources is helping to reduce the costs producing and operating hydrogen fuel cells, according to the Energy Department in a statement released May 18.

Already, national laboratories have achieved advances in fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen stations are open, under construction or even ready to include and support the hydrogen vehicles, and costs are coming down with private support of the government agency.

As the poor economy and high gas prices, coupled with the millennial generation moving to bigger cities and using public transportation, fuel cell technologies is a needed part to diversify the America’s transportation sector and increase competition in the entire global market.