Air Products' Newest Hydrogen Fueling Station in Riverside, Calif. Filling Cars for Five-City Demonstration Program

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air Products'(NYSE: APD) newest hydrogen fueling station in Riverside, Calif. was busytoday filling hydrogen converted vehicles as the City of Riverside held adedication ceremony officially declaring the station open. It is the secondhydrogen fueling station Air Products has opened within a week as a station inSanta Ana, Calif. was dedicated on Jan. 26. These two stations are part of afive-city hydrogen fueling alternative energy demonstration program beingimplemented by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) wherethe respective cities involved will use Air Products' fueling technology tofuel electric hybrid Toyota Prius(R) vehicles converted to be hydrogen capableby Quantum Technologies. "These AQMD projects showcase the multiple hydrogen fueling technologyoptions that we have to offer," said Dan Rabun, California hydrogen fuelbusiness manager for Air Products. "At Riverside, the city is fuelingvehicles at a permanent station, with hydrogen generated from on-siteelectrolysis-based hydrogen production, and at Santa Ana the city is using ourmobile fueling product to deliver hydrogen produced by reformation technology.This five-cities effort continues to grow our leadership position in hydrogenfueling in California." At Riverside, Air Products' Series 200(TM) system, a totally integratedvehicle fueling system, is providing the storage and dispensing of hydrogen tohydrogen-powered vehicles with internal combustion engines modified to burngaseous hydrogen. This model station and proprietary technology providescustomers flexibility in using hydrogen generated at the site, or deliveredhydrogen, integrated with storage and vehicle dispensing capabilities. On-site hydrogen is provided to the fueling system from a production modelHOGEN(R) 6M Electrolyzer manufactured by Proton Energy Systems. Proton, asubsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: DESC), is a keysupplier to Air Products, and the companies have a preferred supplierarrangement for electrolyzer based fueling stations. "Our ongoing work with Air Products and the South Coast Air QualityManagement District continues to show how electrolysis technology can work inreal world vehicle fueling applications," said Robert Friedland, senior vicepresident, Hydrogen Technology Group at Proton. "We are helping todemonstrate how using hydrogen as a motor fuel is becoming more and morepractical for our nation's transportation needs." At Santa Ana, Air Products' HF-150 mobile hydrogen fueler is beingoperated by the city to fuel another fleet of hydrogen converted vehicles.The HF-150 provides hydrogen for vehicle fueling from Air Products' nearbyWilmington, Calif. hydrogen plant. Additional locations involved with the AQMD five cities effort that willdedicate and operate hydrogen fueling stations this year include Burbank,Santa Monica, and Ontario. In all, the five stations will provide hydrogen toa fleet of 30 hydrogen burning internal combustion vehicles. The hydrogen-fueled internal combustion vehicles, which meet the state's strictestemissions requirements, are considered a near-term bridge to longer-termfuture technologies including fuel cell vehicles. Near-zero emission vehiclesincluding those powered by fuel cells are considered a key strategy toimproving air quality in Southern California. The AQMD is the air pollutioncontrol agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, SanBernardino and Riverside counties. The five-cities program is aimed at stimulating demand for hydrogenfueling, accelerating the expansion of the region's hydrogen fueling network,and educating the public on hydrogen-fueled vehicles. Air Products is an industry leader in hydrogen safety and engineering, anda global leader in hydrogen production and distribution, as well as theindustry leader in hydrogen fueling stations for clean transportationapplications with over 40 installations in the United States andinternationally. In California, Air Products has 11 fueling stations, and itsUniversity of California-Davis station was designated by Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger as "Hydrogen Highway Network Station #1" in 2004, as part ofthe Governor's "Hydrogen Highway Network" initiative. Air Products (NYSE: APD) serves customers in technology, energy,healthcare and industrial markets worldwide with a unique portfolio ofproducts, services and solutions, providing atmospheric gases, process andspecialty gases, performance materials and chemical intermediates. Founded in1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such assemiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, naturalgas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company isrecognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitmentto safety and the environment and is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainabilityand FTSE4Good Indices. The company has annual revenues of $8.1 billion,operations in over 30 countries, and over 20,000 employees around the globe.For more information, visit http://www.airproducts.com. ***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actualresults could vary materially, due to changes in current expectations.
SOURCE Air ProductsWeb Site: http://www.airproducts.com