Iceland opens first hydrogen fuel station

REYKJAVIK: Iceland has opened the world’s first hydrogen fuel station on to provide vehicles with clean energy instead of polluting fossil fuels.

“This opening is a major step towards a hydrogen society,” Icelandic Commerce and Industry Minister Valgerdur Sverrisdottir said at a ceremony at the station in Reykjavik. The station, run by the Royal Dutch/Shell oil company, will be used to fuel three DaimlerChrysler buses in Reykjavik under a project partly funded by the European Union.

Iceland wants other vehicles, including cars and boats, to use hydrogen fuel which only emits water. Fossil fuels produce poisonous fumes including carbon dioxide, which is blamed for global warming.

“Today’s opening is an important stepping stone along the long road to a commercially viable hydrogen future,” Jeroen van der Veer, president of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, said in a statement. But hydrogen technology has its limitations, including high costs and problems with storing and distributing hydrogen.

The United States and the European Union are among those seeking to find wider ways to use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity that can power vehicles. Iceland plans to test the buses for two years and aims to rely fully on renewable sources of energy, like geothermal or hydropower, by 2030. — Reuters

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