Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Technology State of the ... - NEXTHYLIGHTS

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Technology State of the Art Review
Figure 34 EERE Fuel Cell Technologies (FCT) program RD&D structure. The Program
is part of the DOE Hydrogen Program. The picture is taken from [DOE, 2009].
C. California‟s authorities and associations
The Republic of California has played a particular role in promoting the
demonstration of fuel cell technology, being the most active state so far. The first
hydrogen-fuelled FCB demo fully operated by local bus operators were conducted in
California in the early 2000s [NREL, 2003] and two out of the three transit agencies
that are still operating hydrogen buses today are Californian (AC Transit and Sun
Line Transit). In addition, the San Francisco bay area is the location of the
forthcoming large scale FCB demonstration project (ZEB Area project, ZEBA, Figure
17 below) [NREL, 2009]. The Californian demonstrations are funded by a network of
local authorities and associations 22 and by private consortia (such as CalSTART).
California‟s activities on FCB demonstrations are driven by the Air Resources Board
(CARB)‟s Fleet Rule for Transit Agencies. This rule, adopted in 2000, imposes
precise emission targets for new urban vehicles and includes the so called Zero
Emission Bus (ZBus) regulation. The ZBus is an obligation on the Californian bus
fleets exceeding 200 buses. It requires the conversion of 15% of the bus fleet in
22 Such as the California Air Resolution Board (CARB), the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District (BAAQMD), the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), the California Energy
Commission (CEC).
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