A Tool to Optimize the Initial Distribution of Hydrogen Filling Stations

Malte Schwoon ()

No FNU-110, Working Papers from Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University

Abstract: An important barrier towards the introduction of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) running on hydrogen is the lack of widespread refueling infrastructure. The niche of buses for public transport, taxis and deliverers with a local application area might not be large enough to generate the reductions of FCV costs that are necessary for a general technology switch. Thus, fuel availability at trunk roads probably plays a crucial role in generating demand for FCVs also from private consumers. In this paper we assume that consumers are more likely to consider buying a FCV the more frequently they are exposed to hydrogen refueling opportunities on long distant trips. We introduce a tool to test different small scale initial distributions of hydrogen outlets within the German trunk road system for their potential success to generate a large scale adoption of FCVs. The tool makes use of agent based trip modeling and Geographic Information System (GIS) supported spatial modeling. We demonstrate its potentials by testing a ring shaped distribution of hydrogen outlets at highway filling stations. We find that the structure of an optimized initial distribution of filling stations depends on what drivers consider a sufficiently small distance between refueling opportunities.

Keywords: Agent based modeling; Alternative fueled vehicles; Hydrogen; Fuel Cells (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D11 D21 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2006-06, Revised 2006-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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