City of Chula Vista hydrogen fuel cell bus demonstration project
Hydrogen as an energy carrier and fuel has potential for various uses including electricity, commercial, residential, transportation, and industrial. It is an energy carrier that can be produced from a variety of primary sources and potentially can accomplish these various uses while significantly reducing pollution by substituting for or reducing the use of fossil fuels. One of the most immediate and potentially viable roles for hydrogen as an energy carrier will be its use as a transportation fuel, especially in densely populated urban areas where automotive emissions contribute significantly to air pollution. The Department of Energy`s commitment to research and development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel, and California`s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) requirements, both provide the impetus and favorable circumstance for demonstrating hydrogen as a transportation fuel on an urban bus system. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility of using solid polymer fuel cells in a hydrogen-powered electric drive system for an urban transit bus application. Fuel cell buses use hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electrical power with the only byproduct being pure water. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells are proposed for this project. Current evidence suggests that fuel cells, which rely on hydrogen and a process known as proton exchange to generate their power, appear to have an infinite life span. All exhaust pollution is completely eliminated, resulting in a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV). An urban bus system offers the potential for developing a market for the production of hydrogen propulsion technology due to extensive vehicular use in densely populated areas experiencing pollution from numerous sources, and because the central garaging facilities or the bus system facilitates fueling and maintenance functions.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 456742
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP--430-21968-Vol.2; CONF-9605195--Vol.2; ON: DE97001438
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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