Cleveland, the butt of many jokes over the years, has been cleaning up their image lately. Here’s a random Cleveland joke to illustrate my point.
Q: What are the only two seasons in Cleveland?
A: Winter and Construction.
Though it may be cold in Cleveland, Ohio this time of year, there is a green construction project afoot and that is the building and deploying of a hydrogen fuel cell bus and H2 fueling station.
According to Metro Magazine, “The 40-foot bus has a capacity of 57 passengers and will be in service between six and eight hours daily on various RTA routes. The bus operates with nearly twice the fuel-efficiency as diesel-fueled bus; and is much quieter as well. The joint project between RTA and Glenn supports the development of new technologies and clean and renewable energy sources.
“The hydrogen-fueled bus is on loan from United Technologies Corp. (UTC Power) and the electrolyzer is on loan from NASA Glenn. The entire program, which includes the fueling system and bus, is valued at $3 million. RTA Board members approved a $50,000 investment in this project, which pays for the installation and use of fueling equipment.”
According to the U. S. government’s Alternative Fueling Station Locator there is a combined total of 58 public and private stations from East coast to West coast. And, of course most of these hydrogen stations are on the East and West coasts. There are just a handful of H2 stations in-between.
That said, the Cleveland station won’t be the only one in Ohio as there is a private one located at Ohio State University in Columbus. The Cleveland hydrogen bus will be put in regular operation along with several dozen CNG buses that have been running for several years now.
The hydrogen bus will play a small part in cleaning up the Cleveland reputation (deserved or not). But, over time, the cleaner and greener Cleveland goes, the more the jokes will start to fade away.
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