Aiken County, SC -- South Carolina leaders are taking turns getting a handle on the new way to fill up at the pump.
State Representative J. Roland Smith, (R) Aiken County: "Starts today, beginning. This is just the first part of it.”
The first part...a hydrogen fueling station, in Aiken County, opened for business, Monday morning.
There are only a handful of hydrogen-fueled vehicles in the area, now, but leaders here say, like the railroad, this will become a vital part of our lives.
SC Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bobby Harrell: "This has that kind of potential. There aren't a lot of hydrogen fueling stations today, just like there weren't a lot of railroad tracks when the railroad started. But, we're at the cutting edge of making those things happen."
Aiken Technical College is getting in on that cutting edge: they have partnered with SRS, and worked out a "trade." Students get the opportunity to learn state-of-the-art hydrogen technology, and the hydrogen truck gets serviced.
Derrik Scruggs, Aiken Tech Primary Automotive Instructor: "They'll have skills and really be the first people to have these skills, because we're offering an alternative fuel and training them on how to service this vehicle, and the proper ways to repair it, and they'll know how to do it, if it comes about and they start producing hydrogen vehicles."
So, when drivers hit the road with hydrogen in their tanks, local technicians will know how to service the car, and this local station will be available for a fill-up.
Leaders say that's exactly the track this country needs to be on, to get things turned around:
Rep. Smith: "And then we can say goodbye to the Middle East, as far as purchasing their product."
Speaker Harrell: "There are people in other countries who don't like us a lot, who we are sending billions of dollars a year. This will be the beginning of us stopping that, and give the US energy independence."
Automotive experts and scientists estimate hydrogen cars will be available across the nation at dealerships, in 5 to 10 years.
Aiiken County's hydrogen fueling station is now the second in the state. Monday afternoon, a station in Columbia was opened.
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