PANHANDLE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, LLC

Hereford is the home of the first Scalable Hydrogen Fueling Appliance (SHFA) in Texas produced by Millennium Reign Energy of Dayton, Ohio.  To our knowledge this is the first carbon-free hydrogen fueling station in Texas.  This small demonstration unit, partially funded by a grant from USDA Rural Development, produces only 2 kilograms of hydrogen per day and stores it at 6,000 psi.  It will fuel a Toyota Mirai allowing it to drive about 130 miles per day.  Hydrogen Bill’s Toyota Mirai will be transported to sites distant from Hereford for demonstration and returned to Herford for refueling. 

Were hydrogen fueling stations placed in Amarillo, Plainview, Lubbock and Farwell the Toyota Mirai and other FCEVs could travel throughout this region.  Hydrogen stations located at these four sites would also be able to provide fuel for locally operated vehicles. 

Plainview is a prime site for a hydrogen fuel station due to the presence of Walmart’s educated workforce now operating 150 hydrogen fuel cell forklifts.  Amarillo and Lubbock are prime locations because of the educational facilities at each site. 

While my generation grew up on gasoline and flathead Fords the current generation will need to learn how to move the world to the hydrogen future.  Training and technology advancement should start now.  West Texas with its wind, solar and the “can do” character of its people is the place to start. 

Farwell is a critical site as it is the western most proposed location for a hydrogen fueling station.  Future stations in Albuquerque, Santé Fe, and Taos would move the technology towards California.  With still future development stations in Phoenix, Flagstaff and Las Vegas would allow FCEVs to travel from the West Coast to the Panhandle of Texas.  It would then be a small jump to start seeing stations in Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi.  That sounds like a lot but it must start somewhere. Panhandle Sustainable Energy is now in Hereford; let’s see where it can go.