Twenty-seven hydrogen fuel cell buses will be run in nine cities of the European Union during 2003 and 2004 as part of the Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) project, co-financed by the European Commission. The buses are powered by fuel cells and fuelled with hydrogen. The objective of the CUTE project is to test the use of hydrogen as a transport fuel under real life conditions. The buses have nine hydrogen tanks and two fuel cell stacks on the roof. The electric motor that powers the bus is located in the rear. Passengers will only notice that they are in a hydrogen-fuelled bus because of the low noise level. Each CUTE city (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Porto, Stockholm and Stuttgart) has developed the infrastructure covering the production, distribution, storage and fuelling of hydrogen. National, regional and local authorities have issued permits allowing the buses to operate. The project structure and progress are outlined.
Abstract