Initiating hydrogen infrastructures: preliminary analysis of a sufficient number of initial hydrogen stations in the US

While fuel cell vehicles are being prepared for limited production by 2003 or 2005, it is unclear what type of fueling infrastructure will support these vehicles when true mass production begins. If a significant number of mass-produced fuel cell vehicles are to carry hydrogen onboard, an extensive hydrogen refueling system must be initiated before the general public will feel comfortable purchasing these vehicles. This paper explores three approaches to estimating how many hydrogen fueling stations might be required for a large portion of the US population, or a large region such as California, to have convenient access to hydrogen fueling. The approaches are based upon the number of existing gasoline stations, metropolitan land areas, and density of interstates and urban arterial roads. Preliminary results suggest that between 4500 and 17,700 hydrogen stations would be required to initiate a hydrogen infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles. Scenario analysis is used to explore the cost of hydrogen during and after the initiation process.