Amazon Plans To Make Its Own Hydrogen To Power Vehicles

Amazon is making plans to produce hydrogen fuel at its fulfillment centers. The retail behemoth partnered with hydrogen company Plug Power to install the first electrolyzer -- equipment that can split water molecules to produce hydrogen -- at a fulfillment center in Aurora, Colorado. From a report: The electrolyzer will make fuel for around 225 fork lift trucks at the site, although Plug says it has the capacity to fuel up to 400 hydrogen fuel cell-powered forklifts. This is the first time Amazon has tried to make its own hydrogen on site, and it's not likely to be the last. 'On-site production will make the use of hydrogen even more energy efficient for certain locations and types of facilities,' Asad Jafry, Amazon's director of global hydrogen economy, said in a press release announcing the installation of the first electrolyzer yesterday. 'Hydrogen is an important tool in our efforts to decarbonize our operations by 2040.'

Hydrogen produces water vapor instead of greenhouse gas emissions during combustion, a trait that's made it more attractive to companies and governments working to meet climate goals. The big problem they need to tackle is cleaning up the process of making hydrogen in the first place. Today, most of it is made using fossil fuels, primarily through a reaction between steam and methane. The process releases planet-heating carbon dioxide. Methane leaks are another problem since methane -- also called natural gas -- is an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. Plug tries to solve those problems by using electrolyzers to produce hydrogen. Instead of using methane, it uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. If that electricity is generated by renewable sources of energy like wind or solar, it's called green hydrogen.

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