Honda UK Launches First Commercial Solar Hydrogen Facility
In a partnership with various organizations, including Briggs Equipment UK, BOC and the Swindon Borough Council, Honda UK has launched its first commercial-scale hydrogen production and refueling facility in its hometown of Swindon, England.
SHD Logistics reports the facility will produce 20 tons of hydrogen annually through solar hydrolysis, a process that creates the gas from water via the sun’s heat. The first customers will be limited to a pair of forklifts and a commercial fleet on the grounds of Honda’s Swindon production plant, as well as an education center next door.
The hydrogen will be delivered through 300-meter long pipes to a refueling point inside the factory, where two Briggs lithium-ion/hydrogen hybrid forklifts will replenish their tanks as needed. The fueling process is expected to take five minutes, each full tank generating 5.5 hours of run time.
Honda hopes the new facility, parts of which were already in operation since 2011, “will be a benchmark for other refuelling stations to follow” as well as reinforce the United Kingdom’s potential among automakers as a place to contribute to the new hydrogen future with vehicles and infrastructure.
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Oops - Reply to JP -Oh well, there's always a "middleman" built into the scheme, isn't there? :-) I also like how they show "Dear Old Grandma" fueling a car with a 5,000 psi hose. *I* would be reluctant to mess with that.
The photo says Clarity, the article says forklift. I call editorial shenanigans.
I read most of this article in a Clarkson voice in my head.
See, now that lady is the main Honda demographic in the UK I've been trying to tell you all about. Or even older.