City's first hydrogen bus to hit the road in January

Hong Kong's first hydrogen bus obtained the green light from the Transport Department to start serving Kowloon in January.

Citybus yesterday unveiled the HK$8 million hydrogen double-decker bus, made by mainland vehicle manufacturer Wisdom (Fujian) Motor Company yesterday, which emits only water after transforming the fuel into electricity to power the vehicle.

Apart from being environmentally friendly, the hydrogen bus only takes around 10 minutes to fully refuel, with a declared range of 400 kilometers.

Hydrogen is highly flammable, the Citybus assured that the bus meets international safety standards and has multiple monitoring systems installed. Bus captains have also undergone relevant training.

"When we were procuring the hydrogen bus, we found the most well-known supplier worldwide for the parts, including the hydrogen storage tank and hydrogen-powered battery pack," said Vincent Fung Ka-fai, Citybus operations and engineering director.

"We are using a hydrogen storage tank of the highest standard within the industry. It has passed through a series of tests and certification to prove it can resist impact, fire and remain safe even being run over by a tank," he added.

The bus can carry up to 119 passengers with 79 seats. The storage tank and batteries are placed at the back of the vehicle, with a fire suppression system that will automatically go off if fire is detected.

"However, Hong Kong laws do not allow hydrogen buses to pass through the cross-harbor tunnels. The hydrogen bus will only serve Kowloon," Fung said.

"This will allow the citizens to take a more environmentally friendly bus while paying the same fare," he added.

The company plans to introduce five more hydrogen buses next year and, in the long term, to replace all 1,700 diesel buses with "zero emission buses."

Citybus is going to build a second hydrogen refueling station on Hong Kong Island on top of the existing one in West Kowloon.

The hydrogen bus is currently powered by "gray hydrogen" that emits carbon dioxide during the production of the transparent gas. But the bus company will get hydrogen from Towngas company's pipelines after the second refueling station is built.

"The company will also consider importing green hydrogen, a kind of clean energy, as the scale of the industry's development gets bigger with more suppliers to choose from," the company said.

Among the first batch of passengers on the hydrogen bus was Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu. Lee said he believes all bus enthusiasts cannot wait to catch a glimpse of the vehicle.

He said the mainland has already made clear hydrogen will be one of the important parts of the country's future energy system, and the first hydrogen bus is an important milestone for new energy vehicles.

"Looking ahead, the government will promote experimental projects using hydrogenic energy, and set up a safety and legal framework to promote the development of hydrogenic energy by taking reference to mainland and overseas experience," Lee said.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com