Santa Cruz Metro leans in to hydrogen-fueled future

[Caribbeans]

Santa Cruz Metro leans in to hydrogen-fueled future

PK Hattis | Santa Cruz Sentinel | Aug 31, 2023

SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz Metro is expected to finalize the purchase of 57 hydrogen fuel cell-electric buses in a matter of weeks and it will be the single largest purchase for that variety of zero-emission vehicle in the nation.

Once the vehicles are received, an estimated 12 to 18 months after sign-off from the Metro board, the hydrogen buses alone will make up more than half of Metro’s 97-bus fleet.

But what makes this technology so special that Metro would put roughly 60% of its eggs in one basket?

“I think the board really has chosen a hydrogen path,” Santa Cruz Metro CEO Michael Tree told the Sentinel...

...Tree said that the advantages of hydrogen fuel cell buses compared to electric battery buses are fourfold. Firstly, the standard 40-foot hydrogen buses can travel about 300-350 miles before needing to refuel while battery buses of the same size have a 175-200-mile range.

“If you’ve got a whole fleet of battery electric buses and you have a natural disaster that takes out your electricity for any sustainable time period, you’re dead in the water,”

On top of that, refueling a hydrogen bus takes only about eight minutes, while the battery buses require an overnight charge...more
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/santa-cruz-metro-leans-in-to-hydrogen-fueled-future/ar-AA1g0H3w

[NNadir]

1. Burning the natural gas from which the hydrogen will be made would be cleaner.

Dangerous natural gas has a higher critical temperature and has a lower risk of metal fatigue, and the exergy destruction involved in wasting the energy in the gas for this dubious marketing scam cannot be justified.

[Think. Again.]

2. We MUST stop burning fossil fuels altogether....

...as quickly as we possibly can.

Green Hydrogen technology is one of the multitude of non-CO2 emitting energy technologies that will get us past Fossil Fuels, but we must use all the options we have to transition away from CO2 emissions quickly.

[CoopersDad]

3. I know about this, I live here.

I know Michael Tree and am excited about this opportunity to bring 57 new buses to the aging fleet.

I don't expect Metro to import commercial hydrogen gas, I think there will be plans to generate it locally and hopefully transition toward true Green hydrogen.

[Caribbeans]

4. Meet SunLine Transit in Riverside Co

in case you haven't yet

https://www.sunline.org/projects/alternative-fuels/clean-fleet

Pioneers in fuel cell technology

SunLine remains a pioneer on the road toward zero-emission transportation. We are proud to be able to adopt innovative technology that supports a greener future. Toward this goal, SunLine is building a fleet entirely of hydrogen fuel cell buses. While the phrase “hydrogen fuel cell technology” can seem daunting, there are a lot of clear benefits that come with it. Let’s take a look...
Founded July 1, 1977; 46 years ago
Headquarters 32-505 Harry Oliver Trail
Thousand Palms, California

Zhangjiakou (Beijing sister city in Northern China) has 400+ FC buses

Zhangjiakou's hydrogen buses popular after Games
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202301/11/WS63be1360a31057c47eba8e98.html

When most bus depot's and Truck Stops have H2, how many people are going to sit around and watch electrons flow into their 1300 pound battery? Not many. So battery investors will do anything to stop hydrogen.

[CoopersDad]

5. Thank you!

Santa Cruz County has 94 buses now, the 57 fuel cell buses is a significant addition to the fleet!

I believe the plans are to produce hydrogen on-site and even sell the surplus to industries that use it, thus reducing imports from out of state or "over the hill" as we say.

We are part of the greater Bay Area region but isolated by the mountains, connected only by a dangerous curvy highway 17.


https://scmtd.com/images/department/planning/Santa-Cruz-Metropolitan-Transit-District-_METRO_-Zero-Emission-Bus-Rollout-Plan.pdf#page=6