I. Introduction
The purpose of our project was to design a sustainable and standardized H2 fueling station,
which would be able to supply an entire city’s transportation network. While designing the different
aspects we would need to create a sustainable fueling station, we followed very strict criteria. Our main
goal was to create a sustainable fueling station, and this would only be possible if our means of
obtaining the fuel used was sustainable. The energy needed for the fueling station, as well as the
hydrogen producing plant is powered by distributed solar panels. The solar panels would be distributed
on the houses in the city of Tucson. The power obtained from the solar panels is more than enough to
cover the electricity needed for the fueling station and the H2 plant. The hydrogen needed for our
fueling station is collected through the process of electrolysis, powered by the solar panels in the city,
without the use of any fossil fuels. Along with the sustainable energy, the methane needed for the
HCNG powered vehicles, is taken naturally from a landfill located in the city. Once the methane is
obtained from the landfill, it is transported to the fueling station by use of pipelines, and the H2 is also
transported through underground pipelines. The actual fueling station also follows the sustainable
guidelines, and is also powered by the distributed solar panels.
For this we project we decided to choose the city of Tucson, Arizona. It’s location in the
southwest region of the United States made it ideal for the usage of solar panels. The Tucson
metropolitan area has a little over 1,000,000 residents, making it a fairly dense region. Being that the
city is located in Arizona, the sun is an obvious renewable resource, considering the fact that it is a fairly
hot climate, and it barely rains. Along with the sun, the city itself has its own means of renewable
resources, including the Los Reales Landfill, a landfill located in the city where the methane for our
fueling station is obtained.
The main reason for the selection of Tucson, Arizona for our city was its location. We knew that we
needed a place where we could produce a large enough amount of energy through solar panels to cover
the energy needs of our fueling station and the other aspects that go with it. By deciding on a city in the
southwest region of the United States, we knew that the sun would be a reliable renewable resource,
and the fact that Tucson had its own landfill, capable of producing enough methane, made it an obvious
choice.
V. Conclusion
The design of our fueling station system was a success in the sense that it is sustainable, and it is
able to provide for the transportation needs of the city of Tucson, which essentially was our goal.
While designing this system and attempting to keep it sustainable, two of the aspects of our system
really stand out. The fact that our entire system could be run on all renewable energy due to the use
of the distribution of solar panels, was huge in the making of a completely sustainable fueling
system. Along with the solar panel distribution, the naturally obtained methane from the Los Reales
landfill furthered the sustainability of our system by eliminating the needs for the use of fossil fuels
in the obtaining process.
Although our fueling system is sustainable, there are ways to make it even better. Since Tucson
is such a densely populated city, an increase in the use of public transportation would decrease the
number of vehicles on the road, and essentially decrease the amount of fuel needed to power those
vehicles. Also, the average driver in America drives 3,500 miles per year, and a simple decrease of
mileage per person would cut the need for fuel significantly, making the transportation system
much more sustainable.
After completing this project, we as group realized that a sustainable fueling system, large
enough to fulfill the needs of a city such as Tucson is possible, but it is a little farfetched. The idea of
such a system is definitely there, but the fact is that it is not practical economically in the short term.
On a positive note however, we as a group were able to create such a system, use our knowledge
and each other to figure out the economic and design details, and we learned how to think like an
engineer to solve our problems.