First hydrogen highway opened in Norway

Now that Mazda has shipped the first Hydrogen RX8 REs to Norway, our thoughts naturally turn towards the driving experience. Since the biggest question surrounding hydrogen-powered vehicles right now is where to find an appropriate hydrogen pump, it strikes us as a good idea that Norway has opened up its first hydrogen highway.

This hydrogen highway is part of Norway's HyNor project and stretches for 580 kilometers from Oslo on the eastern coast to Stavanger on the western North Sea coast. So far, the route consists of 12 hydrogen pumps, which is apparently sufficient to allow the Mazdas to be refueled along the way.

This is reportedly the first integrated network of hydrogen pumps in the world, and it's a creation of Norway's StatoilHydro, the company that installed the underlying structure as well. Future plans call for the highway to extend into the rest of Scandinavia, as shown in the map to the right. Afterward, the alliance intends to extend into Germany.

[Source: Il Corriere della Sera]