Gymnasium Marienthal: The Gymnasium (High School) Marienthal is located in the Wandsbek district of Hamburg. This seventh through twelfth grade school serves with their round about 60 teachers approximately 860 students. We are a day school with lessons from 8am to 4pm. Our slogan is: Become joyously self-sufficent! What is extra special about our school, is that one can learn Chinese. (Website der Schule)

The HyFLEET: CUTE PROJECT

The HyFLEET: CUTE PROJECT is a project that deals with establishing hydrogen buses as a means of public transportation.

The project started in 2006. Presently 47 hydrogen buses are in use as public transportation in Europe, Australia and - in China (Bejing) as well.

The million dollar funded project is sponsored by many different political and industrial partners. The project's official close at the end of 2009 was extended with a new generation of hydrogen buses. The current data is still being analysed.

Currently there are two bus routes in Hamburg which are regularly operated with hydrogen buses. Today Hamburg has got two hydrogen filling stations. It also provides  extra local employment. Worldwide there are about 220 hydrogen filling stations (2005).

The benefit of hydrogen buses lies in their non-dependancy on fossil fuels and the use of renewable energy. Furthermore the use of hydrogen as propulsion material helps against pollution and is therefore a step in the right direction against climate change.

 

Fabrication of hydrogen (H2):

Hydrogen is a substance which can't be used as fuel in its natural form. Nowadays 49% of hydrogen is produced by reforming natural gas and 29% by coal gasification. A further method of production is electrolysis – splitting water using electric energy –, this is the best way of getting hydrogen but it is also the method with the smallest gain of hydrogen.

You need energy to produce H2. You can use solid fuels or preferable renewable power.

 

Hydrogen fuel cell:

• two electrodes, apart because of an electrolyte membrane

• the electrodes are laminated with a catalyst: platinum

• the membrane is proton diaphanous

• because of the oxidation of hydrogen at the anode accrue protons and electrons

2H2 -> 4H+ + 4e-

• at the cathode there is a reduction of oxygen

O2 + 4e- -> 2O2-

• the protons which have been tramped, through the membrane react with the reduced oxygen

Reaction: 2H2 + O2 -> H2O

• there is a potential of 0,6 volts to 0,9 volts

 

CUTE aims

One aim of the project is to learn from experience. A lot of questions must be answered. For exemple: How do hydrogen buses fare when used dailly? Can they be used in all climate zone? Do they run satisfactorily under extrem conditions (many bus stops, thousands of people)?

Another aim is to reduce the global greenhouse effect and to improve the air quality ang in general the quality of life in regional urban areas. Furthermore the idea is to minimize the use of fossil resources, because fossil fuels have become such a big part in our lives that it is often difficult to picture a world without them, but one day this will become reality. Most people think we have endless resources, but the truth is that if we do not smarten up and start to conserve resources and non renewable fuels, we will run into a lot of problems in the future.

In the future the buses will hopefully be used instead of all the buses which are used traditionally in our large public transportion systems. But efforts to reduce costs are imperative. Only then hydrogen buses can compete with oil-powered buses. Low cost will work as incentives for townships to buy them. Since hydrogen buses are quieter sound polution will also be reduced.

Bearing all these points in mind, this regenerative energy is important for us and our environment, so we have make sure that this project will be accepted worldwide.

Project Context

Project Context
Duration of the Project	January 2006 – December 2009
Number of European cities/countries	8 cities /6 countries
Number of cities outside Europe	2 cities /2 countries
Numbers of project partners	31
Project investment: Total	43 million Euro
Project investment: Industry & other organisations	24 million Euro
Project investment: European Commission	19 million Euro

The numbers are high and every bus costs a lot. The state has to generate this money first. So there’s the question: Should we really manufacture more hybrid busses? Furthermore, we would have to build new filling stations, and not to forget the high price for for hydrogen. Although we can’t forget our environment.

 

Problems

Hydrogen buses need huge tanks and new filling station mains. Additionally, hydrogen needs to be cooled, because hydrogen becomes hot when compressed in tanks.

The production of hydrogen is only environmental friendly, if renewable energy is use. Technical progress will hopefully soon reduce costs and then it will be attractive to use hydrogen power buses.

Fluid hydrogen vaporises faster than petrol and hydrogen forms an explosive mixture with oxygen. Mixtures like that can explode with more power than petrol or liquefied petroleum gas. And hydrogen-oxygen-mixtures explode in a much wider mixing ratio than petrol-oxygen-mixture and liquefied petroleum gas-oxygen-mixture.

Furthermore, the flames of burning hydrogen are invisible to the naked eye, even though they burn with a higher temperature than petrol, but through connection with impurities the flame would colour.  Hydrogen has the advantage over petrol in that hydrogen can’t build puddles. If there is a leak hydrogen evaporates very fast.

So the main problems could be leaks. Conductions and tanks need to be well sealed, because hydrogen is hightly explosive when mixed with oxygen.