Getting the money for any innovative initiative can frequently be complex and difficult. This is especially so when the initiative is being developed and implemented within a commercial public transport bus operating environment.
The operational stage is the most important aspect of a fuel cell bus project. It is the reason for embarking on the project and will provide critical information to determine the future of the application of hydrogen and fuel cell bus technology at that site.
Have you ever wondered how the process of procuring fuel cell buses and hydrogen refuelling stations works? This section includes all you need to know about it.
This section provides information on the challenges and solutions of a range of preparatory activities that need to be undertaken before a site can commence operating FCBs.
This sub-stage refers to the very early months of running the buses and the HRS. Once they are ready to operate, it is likely that teething issues will arise as in any new.
There is a great deal of information provided by the ‘Start to Implement’ section of the Fuel Cell Electric Bus website. The information is not easily summarised for the reader wanting an overview. The authors concluded that the best approach would be to provide a Case Study of what a Fuel Cell Bus implementation project might look like.
This section on FCB Implementation, documents the learning that has occurred from the most recent Fuel Cell Bus (FCB) Projects up to and including the early, regular operations of the FCBs and Hydrogen Refuelling Stations. It is intended primarily for the benefit of new adopters of the technology.
The development of the overall concept of a FCB project sets the scope and, in many ways, the basis for the overall success of the project. Where to start? What are the next steps? This section answers these and other questions.
Overall, there are two aspects of developing a fuel cell bus project which has considerable influence on the ease and success of the future project path.
Setting up a fuel cell bus project today still requires the strong support of many stakeholders to provide personnel capacity and relevant expertise, money etc. Acquiring this support can also bring the risk of ‘overselling’ the technology and raising very high expectations.
This sub-stage considers the regular operation of the Buses and the HRS/H2 supply as a combined system. At the time of collecting the information in this section, only a handful of JIVE Projects sites had started Regular Operations.
