TOKYO -- French industrial gas supplier Air Liquide built a hydrogen refueling station in Japan that opens Wednesday to serve fuel cell vehicle taxis, a move intended to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly FCVs among commercial vehicles.
Air Liquide will open this hydrogen refueling station in Kobe on May 10. (Photo courtesy of Air Liquide)
Air Liquide converted a liquefied petroleum (LP) gas station in Kobe into a hydrogen refueling station. The location has been operated by the Kobe MK taxi service, and it appears to be the first hydrogen refueling station for cabs in Japan.
Kobe MK recently added two fuel cell vehicles to its fleet. FCV taxis have been using hydrogen stations built for noncommercial passenger vehicles. A hydrogen station dedicated to taxis would improve efficiency.
The taxi industry increasingly is adopting electric vehicles, but it takes time to recharge them. Fuel cell vehicles potentially are a better fit for cabs, since they can travel longer distances on a refuel compared with EVs.
FCVs create electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and the vehicles emit only water during operation. But the cost of the refueling infrastructure is a major hurdle keeping these automobiles from going mainstream.
Each hydrogen station requires roughly 500 million yen ($3.71 million) to build, according to an estimate. Air Liquide will cut construction costs by creating prefab equipment at factories, then trucking the equipment to the planned hydrogen station sites.
Air Liquide has established hydrogen stations in about 200 places worldwide. The company has partnered with Japanese trading house Itochu to build a 24-hour hydrogen station in Fukushima prefecture next year serving buses and long-haul trucks.
Air Liquide also plans to build more hydrogen station for taxicabs in cities beyond Kobe.
Building a supply chain presents a long-term challenge. Air Liquide receives hydrogen supplies from Japanese plants, and the company is working to reduce carbon emissions in the supply chain.
Japan aims to have 900 hydrogen stations by 2030. But FCVs have yet to gain traction, and only around 170 stations exist nationwide.
