On Monday, June 1st, Propel hosted Seattle’s first Hydrogen Vehicle Show at the Downtown Seattle Clean Fuel Point. As part of the 28-city, Hydrogen Road Tour, the event previewed the latest hydrogen fuel cell vehicle designs and provided information on how fuel cells fit into our nation’s clean transportation future. All vehicles on displayed have the potential to provide the range, efficiency and performance consumers expect — with zero tailpipe emissions.
“Propel’s fueling platform delivers advanced low-carbon fuels including biodiesel from waste stream feedstocks like recycled fats and oils, and locally grown, marginal land crops like camelina,” said Rob Elam, President and Co-Founder of Propel speaking of the event on Monday. “Our fueling platform has the forward-flexibility to accommodate advanced fuels such as bio-methane, hydrogen and electric charging as these vehicle technologies gain momentum in the marketplace. Today’s event shows how close these vehicles are to commercialization.”
Fuel cell vehicles from top manufacturers, including Daimler, GM, Honda, VW, and more, were showcased at the event. Fuel cell vehicles are electric vehicles that generate their electricity from hydrogen stored in a tank, instead of recharging from the grid. Fuel cells are also used in transit buses, forklifts, airport tugs, as back-up power for data centers, and as primary power for buildings.
“The Hydrogen Road Tour showcases the progress of hydrogen programs in the U.S. and Canada,” said California Fuel Cell Partnership executive director Catherine Dunwoody.
One of the tour support vehicles, the Volkswagen V10 Touareg TDI filling with Propel B20 Biodiesel.
“These vehicles are comfortable, perform great, refuel in minutes and will travel the distance with zero tailpipe emissions, zero petroleum and greatly reduced greenhouse gases. Thousands of people will get a chance to try these vehicles for themselves.”
Propel partnered with the California Fuel Cell Partnership, California Air Resources Board (CARB), National Hydrogen Association, US Fuel Cell Council and Powertech Labs to organize the event.
A recent pilot study from the Air & Wast Management Association compared diesel and biodiesel B20 exhaust, measuring the the occupational exposure to particulate matter (PM) and other air toxins. Biodiesel B20 was found to reduce harmful pollutes in the work environment.
