NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Shell has opened a fourth demonstration hydrogen station, this time in Newport Beach. "Demonstration hydrogen filling stations allow us to evaluate a range of different technologies and learn valuable lessons about costs, consumer behavior and how to dispense it efficiently to different vehicles," said Matias Sanchez Cane, North America commercial manager for Shell Alternative Energies, in a press release.

"To reduce costs and achieve its commercial potential, hydrogen requires considerable cooperation between fuel providers, car makers, equipment suppliers and governments," Cane said.

"We commend Shell for stepping up to the plate on hydrogen fueling," said California??s Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols. "We look forward to working with Shell and other oil companies to continue to develop and provide low-carbon fuels for the cleanest cars on our roads now, and in the future."

The Shell-branded station in Newport Beach offers both Shell Nitrogen Enriched Gasolines and hydrogen and will be open 24 hours a day. Local fuel cell vehicle drivers will be trained to use the dispensers using personal access codes. Initially, Shell expects 10 to 12 drivers to fill their tanks each day at the site??s two pumps.

This is the fourth demonstration station Shell has developed in the region. Shell opened the first integrated gasoline/hydrogen station in Los Angeles in 2008 and, most recently, its first pipeline-fed hydrogen fueling station in Torrance, Calif., in 2011.