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Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and San Mateo County Transit District Fuel Cell Transit Buses: Evaluation Results
11/1/2006
This report provides evaluation results of prototype fuel cell transit buses operating at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in San Jose, California. VTA has been operating three fuel cell transit buses in extra revenue service since February 28, 2005. The report includes 17 months of performance data on three 40-ft. Gillig buses with a fuel cell system by Ballard Power Systems. The report also outlines the overall experience for the transit agency and its project partners in demonstrating these zero-emission buses. The analysis in this report reflects the prototype status of these vehicles. There is no intent to consider the implementation of these fuel cell buses as commercial (or full revenue transit service. The evaluation focuses on documenting progress and opportunities for improving the vehicles, infrastructure, and procedures.
Authors: Chandler, K.; Eudy, L.
Designing New Transit Bus Garages to be Fuel Flexible
5/12/2006
The basic differences between the properties of gaseous and liquid fuels influence building design requirements for transit bus garages. Leaks, flammability range, and ignition temperatures must be considered when designing the structure, utilities, ventilation, and safety equipment.
Authors: Adams, R.
Transitioning to a Hydrogen Future: Learning from the Alternative Fuels Experience
2/1/2006
A wealth of practical knowledge concerning alternative fuel technologies, products, national policies, and market introduction exists within industry, regulated fleets, and voluntary programs. Issues relating to consumer choice, capital investment, business decision making, manufacturing, and infrastructure construction will need to be understood in the alternative fuels context if the hydrogen transition is to occur efficiently. The overall objective of this project is to assess relevant knowledge within the alternative fuels community and recommend transitional strategies and tactics that will further the hydrogen transition in the transportation sector and help avoid stranded assets in the alternative fuels industry.
Authors: Melendez, M.
Steam Reforming of Ethanol at Elevated Pressures for Distributed Hydrogen Production
1/1/2006
Ethanol is an attractive renewable fuel because, as a liquid fuel, it has a high energy density, it is easy to transport, and it is environmentally more benign than petroleum-derived fuels. The hydrogen produced by reforming needs to be purified and compressed to the appropriate storage and dispensing pressures. Compressing hydrogen is energy intensive and can consume a significant fraction of the fuel's heating value. A promising option for producing hydrogen from ethanol is by conducting the ethanol steam reforming reaction at an elevated pressure, since injecting liquid feeds (ethanol and water) into a pressurized reactor requires very little energy.
Authors: Lee, S.; Papadias, D.; Ahluwalia, R.; Ahmed, S.
VTA, SamTrans Look into Future with Bus Demo
9/1/2005
This fact sheet provides information about the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Zero-Emission Bus Program. VTA is currently collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, & Infrastructure Technologies Program to evaluate the performance of three fuel cell transit buses developed by Ballard Power Systems and Gillig Corporation.
Energy Policy Act of 2005
8/8/2005
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) included measuring governing energy efficiency, renewable energy, oil and gas use, clean coal power, nuclear energy, and vehicles and fuels including the use of alternative fuels, hybrid vehicles, fuel cell buses, clean fuel school buses, automobile efficiency, and diesel emissions reduction.
Authors: Public Law 109-58, 109th Congress
Overview of Advanced Technology Transportation, 2005 Update
8/1/2005
This overview of the 2005 transportation market includes hybrid, fuel cell, hydrogen, and alternative fuel vehicles. It covers vehicle sales, emissions, potential partners, advanced technology vehicle availability, and other factors. It also offers a "snapshot" of current vehicle technologies and trends.
Authors: Barnitt, R.; Eudy, L.
Yosemite Waters Vehicle Evaluation Report: Final Results
8/1/2005
This study was a joint effort between the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The overall goal of the project was to evaluate the use of gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel in combination with passive catalytic regenerative particle filters in real-world service and characterize regulated and unregulated exhaust pollutant emissions from GTL fuel in comparison to petroleum-derived diesel fuel.
Authors: Eudy, L.; Barnitt, R.; Alleman, T.
Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Advanced Fuel/Vehicle Systems - A North American Study of Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Criteria Pollutant Emissions
5/30/2005
An accurate assessment of future fuel/propulsion system options requires a complete vehicle fuel-cycle analysis, commonly called a well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis. In this WTW study, we analyzed energy use and emissions associated with fuel production (or well-to-tank [WTT]) activities and energy use andemissions associated with vehicle operation (or tank-to-wheels [TTW])activities. Energy resources, such as petroleum, natural gas (NG), coal, and biomass, as well as the energy carrier, electricity, are considered as feedstocks to produce various transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel fuel, hydrogen (H2), ethanol (EtOH), compressed natural gas (CNG), methanol (MeOH), and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel. The propulsion systems evaluated were spark-ignition (SI) engines, compression-ignition (CI) engines, hydrogen fuel cells, and fuel processor fuel cells, all in non-hybrid and hybrid electric configurations.This study updates and supplements a previous (2001) North American study, conducted by GM and others (General Motors [GM] et al. 2001), of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with advanced vehicle/fuel systems (GM Phase 1 North American study). The primary purposeof this Phase 2 study is to address criteria pollutant emissions, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 10 microns (PM10), and sulfur oxide emissions (SOx). We also updated the vehicle modeling for energyconsumption with the latest powertrain maps and added some additional propulsion systems, such as hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICEs).As in the previous study, the vehicle modeled was a 2010-model-year, full-sized GM pickup truck. The truck was selected because it is a high seller among light-duty vehicles (cars and trucks) in the U.S. market, and light-duty trucks account for a large proportion of the fuel used in the U.S. vehicle fleet. In our study, we attempted
Authors: Brinkman, Norman; Wang, Michael; Weber, Trudy; Darlington, Thomas
The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs
1/1/2004
This 374-page report assesses the current state of technology for producing hydrogen from a variety of energy sources; estimates current and projected future costs, CO2 emissions and energy efficiencies for hydrogen technologies; considers scenarios for the potential penetration of hydrogen into the economy and associated impacts on oil imports and CO2 gas emissions; addresses hydrogen distribution, storage and dispensation; reviews the U.S. DOE's research, development and demonstration (RD&D) plan for hydrogen; and makes recommendations to the DOE and RD&D, including directions, priorities and strategies.
Notes: Copies of this document can be purchased from the National Academies Press Websites at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10922
Travel Matters: Mitigating Climate Change with Sustainable Surface Transportation
11/7/2003
TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 93: Travel Matters - Mitigating Climate Change with Sustainable Surface Transportation presents information on climate change and examines how greenhouse gas emissions from transportation may be reduced. The report also looks at the capacity of public transportation to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Authors: Feigon, S.; Hoyt, D.; McNally, L.; Mooney-Bullock, R.; Campbell, S.; Leach, D.
Notes: Copies of this document can be downloaded from the Transportation Research Board Website at: http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?ID=2071
The Next Generation Natural Gas Vehicle Activity
9/1/2003
The Next Generation Natural Gas Vehicle (NGNGV) R&D activity is leading important advances in natural gas vehicle (NGV) technology. NGNGV Phase I engine research projects demonstrated NOx emissions well below EPA 2007 levels, and tow projects met EPA 2010 levels in medium-duty engines. NGNGV Phase II engine and vehicle projects covering a range of power and torque ratings are targeted to achieve EPA 2007/2010 emission levels in 2005. In addition, gaseous fuel expertise gained through the NGNGV activity and other government and industry NGV and infrastructure efforts is aiding the transition to a future transportation scenario based on hydrogen.
