From hot and dry in Madrid to cold and humid in Reykjavik, from flat in Hamburg to hilly in Luxembourg, and from congested streets in Berlin to full speed on open roads in Perth (Western Australia), the HyFLEET: CUTE fuel cell buses have shown that clean public transport powered by hydrogen works. From 2006 to 2009 there have been 47 buses operated under an extremely wide range of climatic and topographical conditions. In total 2.5 million kilometers have been traveled and more than 8.5 million passengers transported safely. The fuel cell buses were powered by proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells which rely on nanoplatinum and other nanomaterials to increase durability, reliability, and efficiency as well as to lower costs.
Figure Fuel Cell Bus Operated by SunLine in California
MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG (MAN) developed 14 buses based around the standard low floor MAN Lion’s City Bus model powered by two different hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) technologies for operation in regular public transport service in Berlin. The naturally aspirated engines in particular have proved their operational readiness.
At the HyFLEET: CUTE final conference bus operators and industry partners will give results of their work in answer to many key questions: What were the performance parameters of the buses? What were the main technical problems during the operation? And what was their availability and reliability? And the biggest question of all: When are we likely to see hydrogen buses commercially available?
The new generation of the Mercedes-Benz Fuel-CELL-Hybrid will be presented at the conference and will take passengers on test drives. First testing of the prototype has already showed further improvements: up to 50 % efficiency improvement, very low noise and a simplified maintenance and service concept with reduced operating costs. The zero-emission bus has been awarded the Gold f-cell Award. MAN will also have their ICE Bus there for test drives.
Nanotechnology can be used to make and store hydrogen, heat sinks for electronics cooling, power controls, gas purification, batteries, portions of the bus body, structural elements of the bus, coatings, paints, glasses, mirrors and others in addition to their use in manufacturing fuel cell stacks.
Nanotechnology can be used to make and store hydrogen, heat sinks for electronics cooling, power controls, gas purification, batteries, portions of the bus body, structural elements of the bus, coatings, paints, glasses, mirrors and others in addition to their use in manufacturing fuel cell stacks.
For more answers join the HyFLEET: CUTE Final Conference in Hamburg, Germany on Tuesday, 17th and Wednesday 18th November 2009.
Contact / more information
www.global-hydrogen-bus-platform.com or info@hyfleet-cute-final-conference.com
