Recently, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols asked Energy Secretary Chu for his “continued support for the development and early commercial deployment of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure as part of a comprehensive strategy to address our shared climate and energy goals.”

“Now more than ever we need the support of the federal government, and specifically the DOE, to take hydrogen fuel cell vehicles the next step closer to commercialization,” Nichols wrote.

In a letter obtained by the Fuel Cell Insider this week, Nichols said “CARB believes ZEV technology, either fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or more likely both, will be required to reach [California's] 2050 GHG [reduction] goals. Because of the long time scales inherent to deploying new vehicle technology, early market sales of ZEVs will need to begin before 2020 and achieve significant market share by 2030 to have a considerable impact on greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury.

“Today it is not possible to know which technologies will be the market winners but given that our global climate and future mobility are at stake, we must pursue all promising options. Fuel cell vehicles, with their potential to provide the range, high efficiency, rapid refueling, and performance consumers expect while achieving zero tailpipe emissions and dramatically reduced greenhouse gas emissions, are one of these options. Fuel cells are also unique in their ability to provide motive power for a wide variety of applications including material handling, scooters, ships, and locomotives.

“DOE should include hydrogen FCVs as a major component of the Technology Validation Phase 2 Program, and should continue its support of basic and applied R&D with the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Fossil Energy, and other relevant research programs,” she wrote.

California is certainly ready to forge ahead - the California Fuel Cell Partnership has released an action plan that  details a strategy for deploying hydrogen fueling stations and fuel cell vehicles in California. The plan specifies the steps needed to meet the fuel needs of 4,300 passenger vehicles and 20 fuel cell buses by 2014, and prepares for even more growth through 2017. The plan calls for 46 retail hydrogen fueling stations in six key California communities at a cost of about $180 million over four years; $60 million from industry and $120 million from government.