Brazil to Operate Fuel Cell Powered Public Buses from 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 26, 2006 (IPS/GIN via COMTEX) -- Brazil has joined the race for hydrogen power, announcing the development of public buses running on this source of "clean" energy. But experts say the new vehicles will not be commercially viable until at least the end of the next decade.

Five buses with hydrogen fuel cells will be put to the test in 2007 in Sao Paulo and neighboring cities. The four-year experiment calls for total travel distance of 1 million kilometers. If they pass the test, the hydrogen bus fleet will be expanded to 100 or 200.

A similar project will get under way next year in Rio de Janeiro.

Hydrogen allows the manufacture of quieter-running and longer-lasting vehicles, and is an attractive alternative in the face of skyrocketing oil prices and the need to protect the environment.

Hydrogen represents "a jump in efficiency of 20 to 30 percent with respect to the existing combustion engines, which are inefficient and only use one-third of the energy generated by liquid fuels," Jayme Buarque de Hollanda, director general of the National Institute of Energy Efficiency (INEE), told Tierramerica.

One source of hydrogen is production through the electrolysis of water, of natural gas, or of alcohol.

The hydrogen bus project in Sao Paulo, which has the backing of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), opted for electrolysis, the most simple and readily available technology.

The problem is the initial investment. "The prototype of these vehicles costs 10 times the price of a diesel bus," says Marcio Schettino, coordinator of the project, developed by a partnership between the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Urban Transportation Agency and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

"Another 15 years will be needed before this technology is competitive with other vehicles," he acknowledged in a Tierramerica interview.

Making hydrogen economically viable requires time. "Its production (whether from water, gas or alcohol) is still very costly. Furthermore, there are problems with transport and storage, because hydrogen is flammable and volatile," says Antonio Nunes Junior, president of the Brazilian Association of Electric Vehicles, ABVE.

At the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, a project in consortium with several companies -- the state-owned oil company Petrobras, several bus manufacturers, and scientific institutions -- will produce hydrogen from natural gas to supply a bus that is also slated to begin circulation next year, near the university.

The objective of that project is "to develop the technology and research," distinguishing it from the otherwise similar effort in Sao Paulo, focused on testing the buses in practice, said Nunes.

According to Hollanda, in Brazil there would not be any great difficulty to supply electricity for electrolysis, but also promising is obtaining hydrogen from ethanol, which is already produced in massive quantities in this country, is energy-efficient and has important environmental advantages.

"Clean energy doesn't exist," given that all sources produce some sort of waste, although in different quantities and types, says Hollanda, qualifying the arguments that praise hydrogen as a "zero pollution" energy source.

"What we have to do is seek one that least affects the environment and the most appropriate solution for each place," he adds.

For now, faced with the uncertainty surrounding hydrogen energy, Brazil is staking its bets on hybrid electric vehicles.

This technology, used in 43 buses already serving the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, combines electrical generation from fuel, and batteries that accumulate the energy not consumed at certain moments of travel and make use of it in others, such as when a boost is needed to drive uphill.

The hybrids are a good transition option, "because the outlook for hydrogen isn't clear," said Nunes. They can use diesel, gasoline, natural gas or ethanol, maintaining its environmental advantages and saving fuel, as well as having a longer life on the road. An electric motor can travel 1.5 million kilometers, while conventional ones begin to present problems at a distance 10 times less, he added.

But hybrid buses cost 30 percent to 40 percent more than those that run on diesel, Nunes acknowledged. That acquisition cost could pay for itself in the long run through savings in fuel, brakes and other components, especially with government incentives.

Stricter environmental regulations, as are being implemented in some parts of the United States, as well as government policies for public transportation, could stimulate change in the transport technology base, he said. Once a certain scale is achieved, which would drive down the costs of hybrids, that option could become competitive, overcoming the limitations of the market.

(* Mario Osava is an IPS correspondent. Originally published Aug. 19 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramerica network. Tierramerica is a specialized news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Environment Program.)

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