Fuel Cell Bus Club

The Fuel Cell Bus Club comprises the participants of the projects CUTE, ECTOS and STEP.Cite web|url=http://www.fuel-cell-bus-club.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=145|title=Fuel Cell Bus Club: Introduction|accessdate=2008-06-24] Their website title says "the first fuel cell bus fleet".

They are currently running a two-year Mercedes-Benz Citaro hydrogen fuel cell bus trial using the largest fleet of fuel cell buses in the world, sharing all information. The buses were estimated to cost US$ 1.2 million each and have a range of Convert|300|km|mi|1 and carry around 70 passengers.

There are three buses in each of the 11 cities in the trial.

Projects

CUTE

CUTE stands for Clean Urban Transport for Europe. This European Union initiative is responsible for the fuel cell buses in all but two of the cities: Hamburg, London, Barcelona, Stockholm, Porto, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, and Madrid.

ECTOS

ECTOS stands for Ecological City Transport System. Icelandic New Energy is responsible for this project, the aim of which is to demonstrate "state-of-the-art" hydrogen technology by running part of the public transport system with fuel cell buses in the city Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland.

Hydrogen will be produced from domestic geothermal and hydro-powered energy sources by electrolysis.

STEP

STEP stands for Sustainable Transport Energy for Perth. This initiative of the Government of Western Australia's Department of Planning and Infrastructure (DPI), was the responsibility of the public transport organisation Transperth, though it was run by Transperth's contracted bus operator Path Transit. They were operated in the city Perth, the capital of Western Australia. These three buses are called "EcoBuses". They began service on September 27, 2004.

The Perth trial received A$2.5 million funding from the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Australian Greenhouse Office. It has been endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

STEP is also sharing information with other fuel cell bus projects (see Fuel cell bus trial).

BP produces the hydrogen as a by-product at its Kwinana oil refinery (Convert|50|km|mi|1 south of Perth). The hydrogen is then transported by road in specially-designed road tankers to a bus depot in the northern suburbs of Perth. Perth's buses have achieved greater reliability and better fuel economy than in any other city in this trial.

By June 2005 the Perth buses had covered more than Convert|60000|km|mi|0 and completed almost 3,000 operational hours, with almost 60,000 passengers having used the service. [http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/media/media.nsf/news/DF9C50D51E6E664548257019001EBDAF?opendocument WA Government media statement] ]

* In 2004, STEP was achieved a Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Outstanding Achievement award.
* In 2005, it was presented with a Banksia award in the "Government Leading by Example for a Sustainable Future" category.

Partners

The buses were manufactured by DaimlerChrysler, the manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, and use fuel cell engines manufactured by XCELLSIS Fuel Cell Engines, now a division of Ballard Power Systems, developed as an alliance of Ballard, DaimlerChrysler, and Ford Motor Company. A number of the cities are receiving their hydrogen from BP. The trial is being independently evaluated, mostly by Murdoch University.

References

External links

* [http://www.fuel-cell-bus-club.com/ Official website of the Fuel Cell Bus Club] (also the official website of CUTE)
* [http://www.newenergy.is/ Official website of Icelandic New Energy] (includes details of ECTOS)
* [http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/fuelcells/ Official EcoBus website]
* [http://www.smarttrack.com.au/h2demo/ Realtime updates of the positions of the STEP buses]