The future of green transportation in Canada looks very promising, as students from two Canadian universities took top prizes in an international hydrogen competition. A team from the University of Victoria was awarded first prize and a University of Toronto team placed third in the National Hydrogen Association's first annual University Student Design Contest for hydrogen fuelling stations, which was co-sponsored by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
    
More than 100 educators and students from more than 40 universities and colleges across Canada and the United States participated in the competition to design the next generation of hydrogen fuelling stations. The winners were announced today at the association's annual conference in Los Angeles, California.
   
"I congratulate the winners of this competition. They are demonstrating the ingenuity and innovation Canada needs to make hydrogen an energy choice for the future," said the Honourable R. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources Canada, whose department held a seat on the competition's judging panel. "The Government of Canada is committed to supporting cleaner energy technology that will help Canada address climate change and build an efficient, sustainable economy."
   
"Our design proposal combines practical engineering with creative solutions, while handling the challenges associated with fuelling a vehicle using compressed hydrogen in a safe, timely and cost-effective manner," said Andrew Rowe, Team Leader for the University of Victoria. "The students made use of some novel characteristics of the Vancouver location - namely, what the environmental and cost benefits could be if a local source of hydrogen were used."
    
"This competition provided a great opportunity to intensely explore one small piece of what it is going to take to transition into a hydrogen economy," said Monica Samec, Team Leader for the University of Toronto. "None of the students had experience in this area, but we learned quickly, put in a lot of effort and are pretty proud of the final result."
    
For the competition, the 17 participating teams submitted design proposals, including drawings of their proposed hydrogen fuelling station. They were also required to investigate the technical attributes, safety features and capabilities, economics and environmental impacts of hydrogen, and develop a marketing plan to increase public awareness of the hydrogen industry.

Storage and delivery of hydrogen is seen as a key area in developing the hydrogen economy. The fuelling stations designed by the teams are a look ahead at what is needed to service the realistic needs of hydrogen vehicles. Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance, managed by NRCan, supported this project.
    
The Government of Canada's approach to climate change is focused on making the right choices for Canada. This will ensure that the actions taken contribute to the long-term goals of building a sustainable economy for the 21st century, a healthier environment and strong communities, while affirming Canada's place in the world.