Brazil Opens World’s First Green Ethanol Hydrogen Filling Station

Brazil is set to develop the world’s inaugural facility for fueling vehicles with green hydrogen extracted from ethanol, as disclosed by the project’s leaders.

This pilot facility, spanning 425 square meters, will be located within the University of São Paulo (USP) campus.

It boasts a production capacity of 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen per hour, sufficient to refuel up to three buses and a car.

Slated to commence operations in the latter half of the upcoming year, the project is non-commercial and represents an investment exceeding R$182 million (US$37 million), according to a Sao Paulo state government press release.

These vehicles, intended for student, faculty, and staff transport, will operate on campus.

Ethanol, a sugarcane-based biofuel Brazil leads in global production, will transform into hydrogen via steam reforming.

This research is spearheaded by USP’s Greenhouse Gas Innovation Research Center, a collaborative initiative involving both public and private sector experts.

Julio Meneghini, the center’s scientific head, conveyed that this approach curtails costs and augments efficiency and sustainability.

He elaborated, “A hydrogen-powered bus can refuel in five minutes, whereas an electric one takes eight hours and has limited range.”

“While green hydrogen derived from wind and solar energy has emissions, like those during solar panel production, ethanol-based hydrogen has a negative carbon footprint,” as reported by Globonews.