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First hydrogen buses in Whistler, Canada
Transportation, Nov 24 2009 (The Hydrogen Journal)
- The first of 20 hydrogen powered buses has come into operation in Whistler, Canada, on November 20 2009, operated by BC Transit.
The project costs $89.5m, with $45m from the Government of Canada and $44.5m from British Columbia government and BC Transit. Each bus costs $2.1m.
The buses were assembled in Winnipeg, Canada, and brought to Vancouver by trailer.
Some of the hydrogen will be supplied from a chemical plant in North Vancouver - it is part of waste gases which would otherwise be vented to the air. It will be supplemented by liquid hydrogen trucked from Air Liquide Canada in Quebec, approx 5,200km away. The Air Liquide hydrogen is mainly made from using electricity from hydroelectric power to electrolyse water.
BC Transit is looking for a source of hydrogen which is not so far away.
Taking the transportation into account, this means that the total greenhouse gas emissions of the buses are 38 per cent of emissions from normal diesel buses.
Climate change campaigners have criticised the project, saying that for environmental purposes, the money could be better spent improving public transit in general, encouraging more people to use it.
