The Port of Los Angeles has taken delivery of five hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles and established two hydrogen fuelling stations under its $82.5 million Shore-to-Store project.
12-month demonstration is part of the Port’s Clean Air Action Plan designed to help California achieve climate change, air quality improvement and sustainability targets. In addition, it will assess the operational and technical feasibility of the vehicles in a heavy-duty setting, as well as expanding infrastructure to support hydrogen throughout the region.
“Transporting goods between our Port and the metropolitan area of Inland Empire is the first leg of this next journey toward a zero-emissions future,” Gene Seroka, Port of Los Angeles executive director, said. “This project is a model for developing and commercialising the next generation of clean trucks and cargo-handling equipment for the region and beyond. Just as the air we breathe extends beyond the Port’s footprint, so should the clean air and economic benefits we believe this project will yield.”
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is supporting the project with a matching grant of $41.1 million. Project partners are contributing the remaining $41.4 million in financial and in-kind support.
“For generations, neighbourhoods located next to high volume traffic corridors have experienced disproportionately high rates of air pollution and pollution-related illness, particularly in the greater Los Angeles region,” Craig Segall, CARB deputy executive officer, said. “We are working steadily to change this trajectory by helping to fund, support and promote comprehensive efforts like the Shore-to-Store Project that will run cleaner and quieter trucks that will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower smog-forming emissions as well. It’s a sizable investment in a project with the potential to radically transform how we move freight in one of the most populous regions in the US”
Partners in the project are Toyota Logistics Services (TLS), UPS, and trucking companies Total Transportation Services (TTSI) and Southern Counties Express (SCE). Gas and technology leader Air Liquide is also participating as a fuel supplier. Shell built and will operate the project’s two new high-capacity hydrogen fuelling stations.
