SMUD opens solar-powered fueling station
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - The Sacramento Municipal Utility District will formally open a solar-powered hydrogen fueling station for fuel-cell vehicles near its headquarters on S Street.
The station, a joint venture of SMUD, BP, Ford Motor Company and the U.S. Department of Energy, is designed to demonstrate fuel cell electric vehicles and the generation of hydrogen from alternative resources.
The station produces hydrogen using power from the large solar panels. The solar panels generate electricity and an "electrolyzer" uses that energy to separate water into hydrogen to make clean fuel for powering the vehicles.
The hydrogen will be used in SMUD's own fuel-cell vehicles and similar vehicles owned by others.
The solar panels produce 80 kilowatts of electricity, equivalent to what is needed to power about 40 single-family homes, or enough hydrogen for about 14 fuel-cell vehicles.
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PG&E keeps nearly 60,000 Northern California customers in the dark to reduce wildfire risk
LOS ANGELES - PG&E purposefully shut off electricity to nearly 60,000 Northern California customers Sunday night, aiming to reduce wildfire risks from power lines during extreme winds.
Pacific Gas and Electric planned to restore power to 70 percent of affected customers in the North Bay and Sierra Foothills late Monday night. As crews inspect lines for safety by helicopter, vehicles and on foot, the remainder will have power sometime Tuesday.
While it was the first time the company shut off power for public safety, PG&E announced its criteria and procedures for such an event in June, said spokesperson Paul Doherty. After wildfires devastated…
