County OKs loan for hydrogen fuel station

AIKEN --- Aiken County, determined to be at the forefront of hydrogen-fuel technology research, is taking the next step by building a fixed hydrogen fueling station.

The county council on Tuesday approved accepting a $600,000 loan from the state energy officer to build the station.

"We are going to locate the central hydrogen facility out at Sage Mill Industrial Park," said Fred Humes, of the Aiken Edgefield Economic Development Partnership and the Center for Hydrogen Research.

In the past couple of months, the county has built up local demand for hydrogen with the purchase of a hydrogen internal combustion engine truck and 43 hydrogen-fueled forklifts bought by Bridgestone-Firestone.

The fueling station should be running by early spring.

"It's really a neat technology for the county to be involved in. It's leading-edge stuff," county Administrator Clay Killian. "We're excited about being able to do it and partner with the national lab to try to improve our lot in life as far as energy independence is concerned."

Since 2001, the federal government has provided nearly $18 billion in funding to research, develop and promote alternative energy technologies.

In 2003, President Bush announced a $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel initiative to develop the technology for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, and car companies jumped on board.

"There are probably nine or 10 different car companies now that have hydrogen fuel celled vehicles," Mr. Humes said, noting that General Motors in the past several years has spent a billion dollars on fuel cell vehicles.

But with the economic slump and the three major domestic automakers begging for a federal bailout, hydrogen research as an alternative fuel could take a hit.

"The car companies are having issues right now, and yes, they're not very profitable, their stock is down and it will take time for them to develop this new technology," Mr. Humes said. "But if you look at other car companies -- Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen -- all of them have hydrogen vehicles, and they have all said they will be putting fleets of vehicles in large metropolitan areas in the next couple of years."

When the new administration takes office, Mr. Humes said, he believes the support for hydrogen research will continue.

"The Obama administration has indicated that they are going to put sizeable amounts of money into renewable, alternative energies, and hydrogen is part of that," he said.

Reach Michelle Guffey at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or michelle.guffey@augustachronicle.com.