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Church Lane Murton Seaham Durham SR7 9RD
the petrol filling station.
The site was evacuated successfully and a cashier called an ambulance, notified the Fire & Rescue Service as well as contacting both the Assistant Site Manager and the Regional Manager.
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There were initially two explosions. These involved the van and were followed by a larger third explosion. As this occurred, an 8 litre LPG cylinder “blevied” (exploded) and smashed against the wall of as private house on the other side of the road.
After 7 minutes the Fire & Rescue Service arrived and after a further 10 minutes, the fire was under control.
The post incident investigation concluded that the customer was unsure about filling up containers in the first place and although no actual cause was recorded for the initial ignition it is believed to have been caused by static build up.
Esso immediately arranged for additional safety stickers to be placed on the forecourt pumps and have further briefed their employees to ensure that there is adequate supervision for customers using portable fuel containers.
Belgium, First hydrogen filling station opened
The first Belgian hydrogen filling station was inaugurated in Brussels by Total in the presence of the Flemish Ministry for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade. Linde developed the technology which allows the low-temperature liquid hydrogen to be stored next to the station, as well as the refuelling system. The Total filling station, which is situated on the Paris-bound carriageway of the E19 motorway, was built as part of the cooperation of BMW and Total "As a pioneer in hydrogen technology Linde has a particular responsibility to promote sustainable mobility based on hydrogen", said Dr Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "Itis vitally important that we work in tandem with politicians, scientists and economic decisionmakers in order to continue to develop and improve the infrastructures and technologies required for the use of hydrogen as a fuel." "Within the framework of its commitment towards a sustainable development, the TOTAL group has been investing for several years into research & development on hydrogen as a fuel", explains Miguel del Marmol, Managing Director of TOTALBELGIUM. "With this new station, TOTALshows that the distribution of´ hydrogen can be perfectly integrated in a motorway service station."
Linde, which is a leading supplier of industrial gases and the world´s largest manufacturer of hydrogen plants, has been powering ahead with the development of hydrogen technology for years. Almost all the filling stations in the world which supply liquid hydrogen are equipped with Linde refuelling technology. The advantage of liquid hydrogen (LH2) over compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH2) is that it has a significantly higher energy density. This higher energy density means that more energy can be saved when the hydrogen is transported from the production site to the filling station than is required for the liquefaction of the gas. The amount of space required to store liquid hydrogen at the filling station is much less than for gaseous hydrogen.
Hungarian oil and gas group MOLis to open seven new filling stations in Hungary this year, while its Austrian rival OMV does not plan expanding its petrol station network markedly. MOL will not have to worry about its market leading position.
MOL is to open seven new filling stations in Hungary this year, four on the new stretch of motorway M7, two along the M0 circle and one on M5.
Due to delays in motorway constructions, the opening of the two stations on M7, however, may be put off to 2009.
OMV does not plan to enlarge its network considerably, with only one or two new filling stations seen in the pipeline. MOLis apparently not satisfied with its 36% market share on the domestic market, which is no wonder, given that it has been losing ground continuously. MOLs market share
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eroded by six percentage points over the past three years.
USA, TX, Austin. Overturned fuel tanker closes highway 71.
July 2008 - Amessy accident shut down Highway 71, making the afternoon commute a nightmare for folks heading to and from the Hill Country.
Afuel truck overturned north of Bee Creek and South of Creek Meadow Cove. The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The Travis County Sheriff's Office said both sides of the highway remained shut down for "an extended period of time."
USA, GM and Clean Energy to open hydrogen fueling station in Los Angeles
Clean Energy Fuels has announced that it will open a hydrogen fueling station in Los Angeles, California, with support from General Motors
The two companies have also announced that they are exploring further opportunities to expand the hydrogen fuel infrastructure. As the first step in this effort, a hydrogen fueling station will be developed and located at Clean Energy´s compressed natural gas (CNG) facility near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The hydrogen station will be used by drivers taking part in Chevrolet´s Project Driveway, the world´s largest market test of fuel cell vehicles. It is expected to be operational by early fall.
General Motors (GM) and Clean Energy are discussing potential opportunities to expand this first station into a network of hydrogen fueling stations by leveraging Clean Energy´s natural gas fueling expertise and the real-world customer experience gained by fueling more than 14,000 vehicles daily at over 170 CNG stations across North America.
Mary Beth Stanek, director of energy and environmental policy and commercialisation at General Motors, said: "Developing and growing hydrogen infrastructure is vital to GM´s efforts to bring larger volumes of fuel cell vehicles to the market. We are supporting this hydrogen station near LAX because we recognise a critical role for Clean Energy´s existing CNG
