2010 Youth Olympic Games Feature Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus

On July 2, 2010 I started wondering aloud where were all of the hydrogen fuel cell cars and buses that could have been spotlighted at the 2010 World Cup Soccer championship in South Africa.

I basically stated that if the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore could showcase a single hydrogen powered bus then why were hydrogen vehicles absent from South Africa? But now it occurs to me that the positive angle on this story is that the 2010 Youth Olympic Games IS featuring a hydrogen bus.

Singapore is not exactly a Mecca of hydrogen development though they did have a fuel cell vehicle in the German Shell-Eco Marathon last year. With the hydrogen vehicle friendly nations of India, China and Japan to the north and Australia to the south, Singapore will be the first country in the Malaysian area to feature a hydrogen bus.

And why not, since Singapore is a progressive island-country of 5 million people and the world’s fourth leading financial center well positioned for international trade.

Now, more about the H2 vehicle, “The bus has eight hydrogen tanks on its roof, which hold about 128kg of pressurized hydrogen; the fuel is channeled into fuel cells, which split the hydrogen into charged particles. Those charged particles then flow through a circuit to generate a current, which supplies power for the vehicle.

“That current also charges a lithium-ion battery, like those used in electric or ordinary hybrid cars. By using hydrogen, the bus emits no carbon dioxide, or sulfur dioxide, which contributes to acid rain. In comparison, a normal diesel bus produces 1.39kg of carbon dioxide per kilometer.”

This joint development between universities in Singapore and China show that smaller countries are catching up and catching on to the advantages of hydrogen vehicles going forward and don’t want to be left behind. A venue such as the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore show all of us what the children of today will be driving tomorrow.