By Judy Molland, December 26, 2013
Hydrogen fuel cell buses have been hailed as the clean transportation of the future.
A fuel cell bus is a bus that uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its power source for electrically driven wheels, sometimes augmented in a hybrid fashion with batteries or a supercapacitor.
In the U.S., several cities are currently conducting test programs using these buses. Flint, Mich., has been operating a hydrogen bus since last summer; Cleveland launched a hydrogen bus program in January; and in the East Bay in California, AC Transit now runs 12 third-generation hydrogen fuel-cell buses.
No Toxic Emissions
Using hydrogen as an alternative fuel is exciting because it does not pollute the local environment, which is great news for human health. Instead of noxious gases, hydrogen powered vehicles only emit water vapor.
In addition, it has a quick refueling process and has a high energy density relative to battery technology, so it is not as limited in range.
Because of these benefits, among others, eight hydrogen fuel cell buses entered service in London in 2011 and are being used on a central bus route. They are part of a global project, with buses being tried out in ten cities on three continents, including: London (United Kingdom), Perth (Australia), Reykjavik (Iceland), Beijing (China), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Barcelona & Madrid (Spain), Berlin & Hamburg (Germany), and Luxembourg (Luxembourg).
That all sounds like great news for the future of this green transportation, but there is a downside.
Hydrogen Buses Are Pricey
Hydrogen fuel cells are expensive; it is for this reason that the ski resort town of Whistler, British Columbia, is ending its hydrogen fuel-cell bus program and switching back to diesel.
As Scientific American reports:
The 20-bus project was launched ahead of
the 2010 Winter Olympics to showcase the technology before an
international audience in a location with challenging terrain and
climatic conditions. This month, the British Columbia Ministry of
Transportation and Infrastructure confirmed it will not be continuing
with the demonstration project after it concludes in March 2014.
The ministry refused an offer from the
Canadian fuel-cell module provider Ballard Power Systems to run the
buses for an additional five years, on account of the cost. The price
tag of the completed five-year project was 89.5 million Canadian
dollars, provided largely by the federal and provincial governments. The municipality of Whistler
supplied CA $16.8 million of the total, which represents the estimated
cost of operating 20 diesel buses over the same period.
The Future of Clean Transportation
Still, the Whistler project is being heralded as a success. Even with the carbon footprint incurred by transporting the fuel across the country, the pilot produced 65 percent less emissions than a 20-unit diesel fleet would have emitted.
“The demonstration of this zero-emission
bus fleet at Whistler has enabled industry to improve their knowledge of
hydrogen fuel-cell buses, generating international business
opportunities for this made-in-B.C. technology,” said a British Columbia ministry spokesperson. “As a result, the next generation of buses are being deployed around the world.”
Let’s hear it for green transportation!