Get a free t-shirt at the San Francisco Auto Show by learning about the AC Transit Fuel Cell Bus Program.
- Read the short story below.
- Download the crossword puzzle.
- Bring the completed puzzle to the California Fuel Cell Partnership booth (#1083) at the San Francisco Auto Show November 26-29. Get a free t-shirt while supplies last and a pass for a free test ride on an AC Transit bus.
AC Transit has the most comprehensive hydrogen fuel cell demonstration program in the world. The HyRoad program includes three fuel cell buses in daily operation and a hydrogen station in Oakland. Since 2006, these buses have traveled more than 200,000 miles carrying more than 450,000 passengers in Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville.
A fuel cell uses hydrogen to create electricity, which powers the bus’s electric motors. Onboard traction batteries capture braking energy when slowing down or going down hills. The batteries provide extra power to the electric motors as the bus pulls away from a stop or when climbing hills. Fuel cell buses are extremely energy efficient, getting 65%-70% better mileage than a comparable diesel bus. On a full tank of fuel, a fuel cell bus has about 300-miles range, enough to operate continuously for 15-18 hours.
Why hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses? Diesel buses emit greenhouse gasA gas in Earth's atmosphere that traps heat and can contribute to global warming. Carbon dioxide and methane are two GHGs. and other pollutants. The only emission from a fuel cell bus is water vapor; so clean you could condense it and drink it! This means less smog and less soot in our neighborhoods, and less asthma in our children. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe and has been safely used for decades. Hydrogen is derived from many sources, including natural gas, water from solar, wind, and hydro power, biomass Plant materials and animal waste used as fuel (like agricultural waste) and biogas (from landfills and sewage treatment plants.)
Next year, AC Transit will open a new hydrogen station in Emeryville. The station will supply fuel to as many as 12 new fuel cell buses and to passenger vehicles made by a variety of automakers. In part, the Emeryville station will use a new solar system funded by the Obama administration to make hydrogen from water, a process called “electrolysis.”
AC Transit’s 12 new, next-generation hydrogen fuel cell buses will be in service in 2010. Like the current buses, they are Van Hool bodies and have UTC fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries made by EnerDel. The new buses are 6,000 pounds lighter than the current buses, which should result in even better fuel economy. Just last month, the AC Transit bus design received the “Grand Environment Award” at one of the biggest international bus shows in the world in Kortrijk, Belgium.
