Carbon free minibus
A carbon free minibus, powered by three different green technologies, is the first of its kind in Europe.
The emission free tribrid bus is the result of an international collaboration, led and co-ordinated in Wales by the University of Glamorgan with funding from the Energy Savings Trust.
The minibus, which will be a commercially available prospect in the near future, benefits from three types of power delivery – hydrogen fuel cell, lead acid battery technology and ultra-capacitators.
The fuel cell system provides the low to medium constant power delivery, whereas the lead acid battery provides medium constant power. Finally the ultra-capacitors delivery the massive, instantaneous power demands, which is ideal for high load acceleration and regeneration of braking power.
Intelligent power switching methods then allow the charging strategy to be mapped to the fuel cell’s optimal performance which results in the vehicle automatically using the most appropriate form of power and level.
The vehicle is emission free and has a range of approximately 150 miles based on a city centre drive cycle and a top speed of 55mph.
Read more on: Automotive, carbon
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(On Jun 16th, 2008 at 8:15 am)
Whilst this is a good idea as it keeps the emissions out of the town, ultimately the power to charge the batteries and hydrogen have to come from somewhere. Can it be “carbon free” if it’s charged up each evening from a coal powered electricity plant or if the hydrogen is produced by processing oil? It would be nice to know the whole picture.