Day 1: Hydrogen Road Tour 2009-on the road with the CAFCP

May 28, 6:20 PMLA Alternative Transportation ExaminerMatt Kelly

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This week I joined the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour, or H2RT, a nine-day series of media, VIP and public events in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to highlight the communities where fuel cells and hydrogen stations are entering early commercial markets.

H2RT is a joint effort that involves the California Fuel Cell Partnership, California Air Resources Board, Powertech Labs, Air Products, Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. The caravan of fuel cell vehicles will stop at 28 locations on the trip, including universities, businesses, municipal buildings and sports complexes.

Also instrumental in this year's tour was the National Hydrogen Association which advocates for hydrogen fuel cell use in passenger vehicles, transit buses, specialty vehicles like forklifts and even buildings and other non-transportation related functions, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, promote energy independence and bring new jobs to the US and Canada.

This is the second year for the event. In 2008, the vehicles drove from Maine to California in 13 days.