Buses: Fuel Cells ppsx

Introduction Discussions about the future of transportation are marked by three key factors growing energy demand and energy security on the one side and climate change and environmental

Buses: Fuel Cells

N Whitehouse and S Whitehouse,PE Australia, South Perth, WA, Australia

A Huss,AKOMBE Market and Technology Communications, Sachsenring, Cologne

& 2009 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Introduction

Discussions about the future of transportation are marked

by three key factors growing energy demand and

energy security on the one side and climate change and

environmental protection on the other The word that is

most often used to embody all these concerns is

‘sus-tainability’ or, in the field of transportation, ‘sustainable

mobility’ Achieving sustainable mobility is the big

challenge for the future in the vehicle and associated

industries

It is now common wisdom that transport based on

fossil resources is a finite proposition Until today, the

burning of fossil fuels in internal combustion engines

(ICEs) was the most common power source for vehicles

As long as oil was cheap and seemed to be abundant, this

seemed to make sense Times have changed and energy

efficiency and the search for alternatives are becoming

increasingly important throughout the world

Currently, few disagree that there is a link between

the burning of fossil fuels (producing greenhouse gases)

and damaging climate change Many countries have

launched very strong environmental protection

regu-lations in order to reduce emissions As a result the

transport industry is working on technical solutions to

meet these new and stringent environmental standards

Although there is a high potential for energy and

emis-sions savings, these can only be achieved gradually

In addition, the world population continues to grow

and with it the demand for energy Today, about half of

the world population already lives in urban areas This

trend will continue over the next decades, and will lead

to increasing urbanization throughout the world

De-veloping countries with massive populations such as

China and India are likely to be the economic drivers

into the future The need for energy in these two

countries alone, not to mention the rest of the world, will

grow continuously and it cannot be satisfactorily met

with existing technologies Urban public transport in

particular will play an important role in making these

communities both viable and, in the longer term,

sustainable

Most of the energy we consume is based on fossil

resources such as oil, coal, and natural gas Whether

electricity, heat, or transportation, the basis for every

such resource is fossil fuel and, therefore, by definition,

these resources are finite In addition, while exploiting

and using these resources, carbon dioxide emissions and

other pollutants are produced which have a negative ef-fect on the global climate

Worldwide, companies, scientific researchers, and governments are looking for ways to make better use of renewable energy sources and improve the energy effi-ciency of fossil resources Energy based on renewable resources such as wind, water, solar, geothermal power, or biomass can be essentially free or emission-neutral Although the technologies that make use of these renewable sources are fairly expensive, this will change in the long term Renewable energies may become less expensive even sooner, particularly if the prices for (fossil) energy continue to grow as they have recently There is a great need for technical solutions that will address these energy and environmental issues in the automotive industry as well as elsewhere Fuel cell technology, as a highly efficient energy converter, cou-pled with hydrogen as an energy carrier produced from renewable energy sources is one of the most promising answers to these challenges Vehicles with fuel cell drive systems are electric vehicles Fueled with hydrogen they produce water vapor while driving In this sense, they are true zero emission vehicles and therefore have the highest potential with regard to sustainable mobility

Public Transportation: Requirements for the Use of Fuel Cell Buses

Public transport plays a key role in all communities It is the most efficient and effective means of moving people from one place to another, particularly large numbers of people Public transport also makes an important con-tribution to community social values by providing a level

of mobility not available to many people through any other means In densely populated communities urban public transport has an even more important role in creating a sustainable urban environment

More than 75% of Europe’s population live in urban areas Currently more that 20% of all person kilometers traveled within the European Union are urban trips of o15 km The total kilometers traveled in European Union urban areas are expected to increase considerably

in the next few years These statistics are consistent with most urbanized countries

Urban areas suffer heavily from congestion caused mostly by the private car resulting in severe impacts on the individual and losses to the economy It is arguable

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