Regional Consumer Hydrogen Demand and Optimal Hydrogen Refueling Station Siting

摘要

Infrastructure development analysis explores the benefits and drawbacks of various options for installing refueling hardware to serve an emerging hydrogen demand. Most alternative fuel experts agree that infrastructure issues have been among the top barriers to transitioning to alternative transportation fuels. Therefore, infrastructure analysis is a key component in the development of a hydrogen transportation system. Understanding consumer demand on a geographic basis is an important part of this analysis. Matching emerging hydrogen demand with emerging infrastructure is critical to a successful transition. In fiscal years (FY) 2004 and 2005, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed a proposed minimal infrastructure to support nationwide deployment of hydrogen vehicles by offering infrastructure scenarios that facilitated interstate travel. In FY 2006, additional analyses quantified projected hydrogen vehicle demand nationwide and in targeted metropolitan areas and projected hydrogen fuel demand to inform infrastructure decisions (e.g., siting hydrogen refueling stations and selecting between centralized and distributed hydrogen production). The current (FY 2007) project builds on this previous work by analyzing projected hydrogen demand at a finer (subregional) scale and proposing hypothetical locations for hydrogen refueling stations based on optimal demand characteristics.