Page 292 - Alternative Energy Systems in Building Design

266 FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY

hydrogen-powered, zero-emission fuel cell buses (ZEBs) for use in regular transit
service. Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., will supply hydrogen, which is converted to
hydrogen gas at VTA’s fueling station at Cerone. Additional projects include Sunline
Transit in Thousand Palms, California, a transit organization that has an extended his-
tory of use of alternative-fuel vehicles and buses. It is also a testing facility for many
vehicle companies that conduct a variety of tests in the California desert.

EUROPEAN FUEL CELL BUS PROJECT
Ballard heavy-duty fuel cell engines are installed in 30 Mercedes buses running in
revenue transit service in a dozen European cities, which include nine cities and the
Ecological City Transport System in Reykjavik, Iceland, in yearly demonstration
programs. The European Union has led the way for zero-emission fuel cell technology.

FUEL CELL APPLICATIONS IN THE U.S. SPACE PROGRAM
The fuel cell was first discovered in 1839 by Sir William Grove, a Welsh judge and a
scientist. The discovery became dormant up until the 1960s, when practical applica-
tions of the electrochemical conversion in the U.S. space program paved the way for
today’s research and product development.
In the past, the U.S. space program chose fuel cells to power the Gemini and Apollo
spacecrafts and still uses the technology to provide electricity and water for the Space
Shuttle. Nowadays, most industrialized nations of the world, including the United
States, Canada, Germany, Holland, Japan, and Italy, have extensive nationally spon-
sored research and development programs that promise to have a significant impact on
the global economy and reduce global greenhouse gas production.