Empa and the Paul Scherrer
Institute (PSI) have, together with Bucher Schoerling, Proton Motor, BRUSA
Elektronik AG und Messer Schweiz, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street
cleaning vehicle which was presented to the public on Thursday 14th May 2009 in
Basel. The vehicle is named the "Bucher CityCat H2" and is the first municipal
utility vehicle in the world powered by fuel cell technology. For the next 18
months it will be tested in everyday usage.
 | | Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have, in cooperation with industrial partners, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street cleaning vehicle |
Fuel cells are considered to be clean energy sources well-suited for our
future mobility needs. They convert hydrogen directly into electrical current,
which is then used to drive a vehicle's electric motor. The great advantage is
that no pollutants are emitted in the vehicle's exhaust, just water vapor
produced by the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell.
When such vehicles are used in sensitive areas such as pedestrian precincts,
railway station halls or even in enclosed structures such as exhibition halls,
air pollution is reduced significantly compared to conventional vehicles, which
are generally powered by diesel engines.
Project creates a window of opportunity for hydrogen technology
"Our aim is to take fuel cell technology from the laboratory onto the
street", explains Project Leader Christian Bach, Head of Empa's Internal
Combustion Engines Laboratory. In addition, the project scientists want to test
the operational characteristics and ageing behavior of the new technology under
typical, everyday conditions of use. But it doesn't stop there. Beyond these
obvious aims, the project, called "hy.muve" ("hydrogen-driven municipal
vehicle") also serves as a research platform for socio-economic studies in which
questions regarding the acceptance of hydrogen technology, its market
introduction and its cost effectiveness will be investigated.
Because of their low power operational cycles, municipal vehicles are
particularly well-suited for these kinds of drives and can be used to good
effect in areas where the refueling infrastructure is limited. "They therefore
offer an important window of opportunity for introducing other hydrogen powered
vehicles onto the market," according to Bach.
Significantly less pollution emitted
Computer simulations made at Empa show that the amount of energy consumed can
be halved by using fuel cell drives instead of conventional diesel engines. This
means that CO2 emissions can be reduced by some 40%, even when using
conventional hydrogen production techniques based on natural gas. The project is
financed by the ETH Domain's Competence Centre for Energy and Mobility (CCEM),
the Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE), the various project partners and
pilot regions where the vehicle will be tested.
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