There’s a lot of research going on across the UK’s universities around hydrogen as an alternative fuel for cars and other vehicles. Last week the University of Sunderland unveiled a Nissan car converted to run on hydrogen and the University of Birmingham has just bought a fleet of five hydrogen powered cars.

Now Loughborough University has weighed in with its own hydrogen refuelling station, with the aim of transferring its service vehicle fleet over to hydrogen.

The initiative is part of a cluster of hydrogen refuelling stations being set up across the region by the British Hydrogen Forum. Known, somewhat unglamorously, as the Midlands Hydrogen Ring the stations will be at the heart of a hydrogen fuelling infrastructure planned for the UK.

Loughborough University’s chief operating officer, Will Spinks, said:

“At Loughborough sustainability is key. The opening of this new refueling station underlines our commitment to operating in an environmentally friendly way and to the development of new technologies that support this goal.”

The hydrogen refueller has been funded by Loughborough University in partnership with the East Midlands Development Agency and was manufactured by Air Products. Initially gas for the facility will be provided by an external supplier, but the university is investigating ways of creating its own hydrogen through the use of green technologies on campus.

The university is renowned for its development of green technologies. Home to the acclaimed CREST (Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology), it has launched a research school in sustainability and has been using 100 per cent green power since 2002.

You can find out more here.

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