Eureka! The National Children’s Museum and Air Products, industrial gas manufacturer and global market leader in hydrogen infrastructure, have joined forces to educate children about sustainable energy. A brand new exhibit provides children with a unique interactive experience, whilst the launch of a competition brings the theme to the classroom; challenging children from around the country to design a hydrogen-powered town.

Eureka!’s newest exhibit is an Air Products hydrogen car fuel pump in the Garage section of the role-play gallery, ‘Living and Working Together’. As with the other exhibits in the gallery’s child-sized town, in the Garage children pretend to play at adult life, maintaining and driving cars, refuelling or changing tyres and learning what’s ‘under the bonnet’.

The hydrogen fuel pump exhibit aims to educate children about alternative sources of energy. Located beside conventional fuel pump exhibits, children are able to understand their choices for decreasing the environmental impact of driving a car.

Ian Williamson, Director of Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products and President of the European Hydrogen Association said: “We are passionate about developing a greener future for everyone and have installed over 120 hydrogen fuelling stations around the world. Raising public awareness about the benefits of hydrogen fuel is an important part of the work we do. Our involvement with Eureka! is a fantastic way to spread the word about hydrogen energy to future generations.”

Visitors to Eureka! were first introduced to alternative energy technologies with the Power Wall exhibit. Launched in March 2009, the Power Wall demonstrates how clean energy is generated and distributed. The hydrogen car pump builds on this concept by introducing hydrogen powered vehicles as a possible part of daily life. Both exhibits have been designed keeping the complex nature of alternative energy sources in mind, and will be able to change as technology evolves. With the completion of the new exhibit, Air Products is inviting schools across the North to join children nationally in a competition that asks Year 5 and 8 classes to show what their town might look like if it was powered by hydrogen. Twelve finalists will compete to win funding for a green project at their school with a first prize of £1500, and three runner-up prizes of £500.

More information about the competition, including instructions for entering, is available on the website:
www.wiseupwithhydrojen.co.uk

source: AIR PRODUCTS