Monday, March 31, 2008 - 3:10 PM

A Blueprint for the Long-term Deployment of Hydrogen Infrastructure in California

Nils A. Johnson, Christopher Yang, and Joan M. Ogden. University of California-Davis

As California explores a potential transition to a hydrogen-based transportation system, an important step is to gain insight into the design and costs of a statewide infrastructure for producing and delivering hydrogen during this period.  Although several studies have examined early infrastructure deployment for specific urban areas as hydrogen vehicle market penetration approaches 1% (e.g., Los Angeles and Sacramento), few studies have outlined the required infrastructure and associated costs as market penetration continues to grow.  This paper uses an engineering/economic model of hydrogen infrastructure combined with a geographic information system (GIS) to provide a blueprint for statewide deployment of production, distribution, and refueling infrastructure as hydrogen vehicle market penetration evolves from 1% to 75% in California. 

 A variety of possible supply options for hydrogen are considered, including onsite production from natural gas and centralized production from natural gas and coal with carbon capture and sequestration.  In the centralized production cases, two distribution pathways are considered: cryogenic liquid trucks and gas pipelines.  By analyzing several production and delivery pathways, the study will provide insight into optimal deployment strategies given different market penetration rates and, thus, inform planning for a future hydrogen economy in California.  The presentation will include visuals of optimal hydrogen infrastructure deployment through time as well as capital costs, CO2 emissions, and levelized costs of hydrogen for the various deployment pathways. 


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Back to The NHA Annual Hydrogen Conference 2008 (March 31-April 4 2008)