Next Green Thing: Fueling Up With Hydrogen

Back in 1905, gas stations were the newest thing. The first one in the world was built that year in St. Louis, Mo. These days, of course, there isn’t really anything special about a gas station. The latest U.S. census found there are more than 117,000 of them across the country. But a brand new station in Massachusetts has people buzzing again, because this one offers something most don’t - hydrogen.

The first hydrogen fueling pump in the country opened four years ago, at a gas station in Washington D.C. This week, number 62 opened at the hydrogen-power research and development company Nuvera, in Billerica, Mass. The first car that filled up there is part of the Hydrogen Road Tour - a first-ever convoy of fuel cell cars traveling cross-country to show consumers and politicians, that after long years in the lab, hydrogen technology is ready for the road.

Producer Shannon Mullen stopped by the grand opening earlier this week, and she has this story for Word of Mouth's "next green thing" series, which looks at the ways people and organizations are trying to make the world a greener place.

(Photo by Dave Barger)