Hydrogen

DC Opens First Hydrogen Fueling Station

November 2004 -- According to officials from Shell Hydrogen and General Motors Corporation, the hydrogen-dispensing pump at the Shell station on Benning Road NE in the Washington, DC is the first installed at a public gas station in the country.  Shell spent more than $2 million on the special Benning Road NE pump, which it will use to demonstrate hydrogen technology to lawmakers and staffers on Capitol Hill through a partnership with GM.

Shell and GM are major proponents of moving toward a "hydrogen economy," in which a significant part of the world's vehicle fleet would run on hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Such cells are essentially batteries that generate electricity by converting hydrogen and oxygen into water, producing no pollution.

The station and GM's fleet of fuel cell minivans are part of their plan to establish small networks of five or six such commercial pumping stations throughout the country by 2007; connecting a number of such small networks into regional networks beginning around 2010; and having mass-market penetration between 2015 and 2025.

The facility was opposed by River Terrace communty activist George Gurley and other members of the community.  It was supported by others, such as the principal of River Terrace elementary school, which is right behind the fueling station.