Fuel Cell Bus Club

From 2001, the European Union supported research project Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) began running hydrogen fuel cell powered buses in nine European cities[1] - Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Porto, Stockholm, and Stuttgart.[10] The project was supported by a consortium of transportation operators, hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell developers, universities and city authorities.[11][12]

At the end of the project in 2006, researchers deemed the project a success.[2][13][14] A subsequent project (HYFLEET-CUTE) ran from 2006 until 2009, using the existing hydrogen fuel cell buses as well as new buses.[15]

ECTOS stands for Ecological City Transport System.[16][17] Icelandic New Energy was responsible for this project, the aim of which was 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 was produced from domestic geothermal and hydro-powered energy sources by electrolysis.[18] The project ran from 2001 to 2005.[11]

STEP stands for Sustainable Transport Energy for Perth.[19] This initiative of the Government of Western Australia's Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI), was the responsibility of the public transport organisation Transperth, though it was run by contracted operator Path Transit. They were operated in the city Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The three hydrogen fuel cell buses were called "EcoBuses". The STEP project ran from 2001 to 2005, with the first buses in service in September 2004.[11] The buses were withdrawn from service in 2007,[20] with one bus subsequently preserved (albeit without the hydrogen fuel cells).[21]

The Perth trial received A$2.5 million funding from the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Australian Greenhouse Office.[11] It was endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.[11]

BP produced the hydrogen as a by-product at its Kwinana oil refinery (50 kilometres (31.1 mi) south of Perth).[11] The hydrogen was then transported by road in specially designed road tankers to a bus depot in the northern suburbs of Perth.[11] Perth's buses achieved greater reliability and better fuel economy than in any other city in the trial.[11]

By June 2005, the Perth buses had covered more than 60,000 kilometres (37,282 mi) and completed almost 3,000 operational hours, with almost 60,000 passengers having used the service.[11]

• In 2004, STEP received 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.

In 2005, Beijing purchased three hydrogen fuel cell buses from the consortium using United Nations Development Programme grants. These buses entered service as the first fuel cell buses in China, in June 2006. Scientists and researchers hoped to demonstrate how emission free transport could be achieved in China. At the time, fossil fuels such as coal and oil made up 90 per cent of China's total energy use.[4] However, the buses were withdrawn after one year, as air pollution reduced the efficiency and operating life of the fuel cells.[22]