AC Transit launches innovative hydrogen fueling facility

AC Transit General Manager David Armijo, along with U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee and Jaimie Levin, the agency's Director of Environmental Technology, took the occasion to personally fuel one of the District's 12 hydrogen fuel cell buses.

For over a decade, AC Transit has been developing the most comprehensive, zero-emission, fuel cell transit program in North America, and operating zero-emission buses in real-world service, said Armijo. Now, with increased fueling capacity, we have a greater capability to offer clean, quiet, zero­ emission transportation to the communities we serve.

AC Transit's newest on-site energy station, engineered by Linde North America, Jacobs, and EPC, and built by W.L. Butler Construction, demonstrates the use of renewable hydrogen - hydrogen produced using Proton OnSite's solar-powered electrolyzer. Engineering and construction firm Cupertino Electric, Inc. installed a 510 kilowatt DC solar photovoltaic system for AC Transit that will generate energy to help fuel the transit system's hydrogen-powered buses running throughout the Bay Area.

The station also features Linde's latest advancements in compression and dispensing technology, enabling buses to be refueled at rates up to 5 kilograms/minute - a time comparable to refueling diesel buses. Thanks to a major grant from the California Air Resources Board, one dispenser is accessible to the public for fueling hydrogen fuel cell electric passenger cars, including the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL, now on the road in both Northern and Southern California.

Taking The HyRoad

Fuel cells do not burn the fuel they use. Instead, they combine hydrogen with oxygen from the air electrochemically to produce electricity and emit only water vapor. AC Transit operates twelve 40' hybrid-electric, zero-emission fuel cell buses, each powered by a 120 kW UTC Power fuel cell system and a Siemens ELFA Drive System.

We are proud to partner with AC Transit, said Joe Triompo, VP and General Manager, UTC Power. Their leadership in the deployment of fuel cell buses in the United States and their commitment to reducing their environmental impact are inspiring.

In recognition of AC Transit's solar installations across its facilities, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) presented a check, representing what will amount to more than $500,000 in rebate incentives from PG&E through the California Solar Initiative (CSI) program, to AC Transit's General Manager. Additionally, in honor of AC Transit's HyRoad Program, Tom Sullivan, Chairman of Proton OnSite, presented a $20,000 check to Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley to further youth science education in alternative fuels.