By the spring of 2008 New York will have 22 hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles and 30 General Motors fuel cell sedans and a number of fueling stations, The fueling stations serving the GM vehicles will be 700 bar pressure units.

The problem New York now must deal with is the high cost of hydrogen since no gaseous hydrogen is produced in the State,

Two significant hydrogen-fueled bus initiatives are evolving in the State. The first initiative is in Buffalo/Niagara Falls where two 120 kilogram per day electrolysis based fueling stations are being installed. One electrolysis unit is for the Buffalo transit company and the other for the Niagara Falls State Park. Electricity from the unique Niagara Falls renewable resource will fuel the electrolysis units. The second bus initiative is the second phase of the Albany HyIMPACT project at the Airport. Phase I of this project consists of four hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles, a fueling station and a tube trailer source of hydrogen. The second phase consists of two hydrogen fueled transit buses for the Albany transit company and a low cost source of hydrogen.

Steam reforming is the conventional process for producing hydrogen. However, the latest versions of FuelCell Energy’s molten carbonate fuel cells are “hydrogen ready”. The high temperature fuel cell converts methane to hydrogen, some of which can be withdrawn. A 300 kw molten carbonate fuel cell is planned for the Airport that can co-produce 135 kilograms per day of hydrogen in addition to the electricity. FuelCell Energy has an electrochemical technology for the fuel cell-produced hydrogen that separates hydrogen from carbon dioxide.

The Airport has an anaerobic digester that produces methane from deicer fluids. The methane, which is flared, will be used to fuel the fuel cell or feed the reformer for part of the year. An Albany landfill also flares off gas. Air Liquide’s membrane separation technology is being considered for processing the off gas and separating methane from carbon dioxide. The separated methane can be injected in the local pipeline and then delivered to the Airport to fuel either the fuel cell or the steam reformer. 

 Two studies need to be undertaken, one to evaluate the potential for the recovery of methane at the landfill with membrane technology and the use of the separated methane at remote, high efficiency, fuel cell installations, and the other to compare the combination fuel cell and electrochemical separation/compression technology with steam reforming and decide on the best solution to meet the Airports fueling needs.