British Petroleum, like many other fuel and energy producting companies, is always on the hunt for fuel that is in abundant supply and is non-polluting. The company believes that such a fuel may be hydrogen, a chemical element that carries energy and can be stored in either liquid or gaseous form. With an increasing world consciousness toward the impact of human activities on the environment and, specifically, the impact of emissions from urban air pollution to global warming, BP is looking for a cleaner energy supply.
Innovation
BP's hydrogen efforts are focused on the production, distribution and retailing of hydrogen, which builds on the company's core experience of producing a vast amount of hydrogen in its refineries then distributing and retailing it with a wide range of different fuels. BP's CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe) project puts hydrogen fuel cell bus demonstration projects in nine European cities and is a European Union initiative. BP is the major infrastructure supplier for the CUTE project. In this project, BP is providing refueling facilities in five European cities and in Perth,
Australia, as part of a sister project to CUTE. Each of these cities is very different. BP is making use of these differences by applying different technologies, using different suppliers, and testing a range of refueling formats in each location. Information gathered from these demonstrations will help BP and the industry respond to the challenges associated with hydrogen production, distribution, storage and retailing. BP is making a point of using a wide range of approaches in this project to maximize opportunities to gather practical experience in real-life conditions.
Impact
BP is providing refueling facilities in London, Barcelona and Porto, and is a partner in the Hamburg and Stuttgart sites. These five facilities opened in 2003/4, and the demonstration will run for at least two years in each location. The development of the Hydrogen Economy is reliant on partnerships across industry and with government.
The CUTE project is a good example of this in action with the EU providing partial funding, BP working with a variety of suppliers in each location to provide the hydrogen infrastructure, Daimler Chrysler providing the buses, and transport companies in each city operating the service.
BP provides refueling infrastructure - on its own or with partners - for three hydrogen fuel cell powered public buses in Barcelona, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Porto, Perth and London; it provides a public refueling station with alternative fuels in Berlin, the infrastructure to fuel airside vehicles at Munich's airport, and refueling infrastructre to fuel hydrogen powered passenger cars in Singapore and Los Angeles.
Inspiration
BP declares on the environment and society section of its webpage that it "is determined to continue to lead the way to a cleaner and more secure energy future by supplying the world’s energy whilst respecting the natural environment."
The World Inquiry editorial team edited this profile from the original submission of the interviewer or other source. The views expressed do not necessarily represent Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Management or the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. More >>
