Canadian Province Seeks More Fuel Cell Vehicles On Its Roads

Experts say the infrastructure isn’t there but must be implemented for H2 to work

Businesses in Alberta, Canada have been showing substantial interest in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and how they can be used to shrink greenhouse gas emissions from their commercial fleets.

The province’s roads aren’t quite ready for an influx of H2 cars and trucks

As interested as businesses in Alberta may be, the streets and highways aren’t equipped with the refueling infrastructure hydrogen fuel cell vehicles need to keep running. 

The interest in using H2 only grew following the Canadian Hydrogen Convention at the end of last month.  It bought 8,000 guests to Edmonton, the province’s capital city.  That city and Calgary, another in the same province, are increasingly familiar with the clean energy technology as they have been part of several test projects.

Among the most recent was the round-trip test journey of an H2-powered truck that was towing an empty trailer. It went from one city to the other as part of an Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) pilot project to better understand how the trucks would perform during long-haul trips.

The hydrogen fuel vehicles have performed well

As attendees of the convention discovered, the AMTA pilot had the vehicle travel about 375 miles, and upon completion, it still had over a third of its H2 tank left. The next step in that project will be another test involving the same trip only with a loaded trailer being hauled.

Companies have been keeping a close eye on the progress being made by the project. They’re watching to see if hydrogen fuel vehicles will be the next additions to their fleets as they transition to zero-emission transportation.

That said, beyond the function of the trucks themselves, companies also need to know that there will be places to refuel them along the road.  Proving that the trucks have substantial ranges is the first step. However, even a truck with a very long range will still need to refuel at some point. According to experts in the province, this is the next big hurdle before mainstream use can be achieved.

Starting at one

Earlier this year, Alberta opened its first commercial hydrogen fueling station.  More recently, Air Products announced its intention to build an H2 refueling network between Edmonton and Calgary.

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