The distribution system that delivers gasoline and diesel fuel to 180,000 U.S. retail outlets cannot be used for hydrogen. Adapting this infrastructure to dispense hydrogen will require major modifications.

Many delivery options are being explored.

• Production plants could be centrally located.
• Hydrogen could be transported as a compressed gas or liquid and distributed by trucks or pipelines to fueling stations.
• Public or central fleet fueling stations might produce hydrogen on-site.
• Fuel-cell systems that generate electrical power sometimes come with reformers or generators that produce hydrogen. A fueling station might purchase one of these units, use the electricity for operations, and tap into the reformer to produce hydrogen for vehicles.
• Electricity generated by the sun or by a windmill could be used to extract hydrogen from water on-site or at a central production plant.

About 45 hydrogen fueling stations have opened worldwide since the first solar-to-hydrogen plant and fueling station opened at the University of California, Riverside, College of Engineering in 1992.

The first retail hydrogen station opened at the Los Angeles International Airport in 2004. The hydrogen at this station is produced on-site using electrolysis. The station is being used to fuel hydrogen-powered demonstration cars supplied by several automobile manufacturers. The facility also serves City of Los Angeles departments that have hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Figure 8 Hydrogen Refueling Station This station is at Los Angeles International Airport in California. Source: U.S. Department of Energy