Working under a program funded by the state’s Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), American Wind Power and Hydrogen LLC of New York City obtained two Toyota Prius Hybrids and had them retrofitted to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline.

They have been sited on the UB North Campus for a two-year demonstration program. During that period they will be driven by University personnel and regularly evaluated to measure their performance.

This is the first multiple vehicle HICE program undertaken east of the Rockies. Buffalo was chosen because of the stature of the University and because hydrogen can be produced more economically in this region than anywhere else in the United States.

NYSERDA President, Peter Smith, will represent the Governor at an event to be held at 2:00 PM, Thursday, November 9th on the plaza in front of the Center for the Arts on the University’s North Campus. The media and invited guests will have an opportunity to drive a vehicle powered by the fuel of the future, environmentally clean hydrogen.

Western New York is in a unique position to become the hydrogen capital of the United States. The availability of green energy from the Niagara Power Project and from the chlor-alkali chemical plants in the region gives this area a huge advantage. Hydrogen can be produced here at half the cost of any other region in the United States. 

NYSERDA has a $5 million HICE program in the wings. The New York Power Authority recently announced -a $21 million three-year program to develop large-scale hydrogen generation facilities using green energy from the Niagara Power Project.

The introduction of these HICE vehicles is just the beginning of an environmentally driven economic boost for the area. With hydrogen fuel cell vehicles decades in the future, using hydrogen in standard internal combustion engines makes sense for America and adds a job producing -and protecting- factor to the local economic picture.