A CaetanoBus hydrogen fuel cell bus started its 7-day tour of Slovenia on 17 November in Tolmin with an environmental consultation on the possibilities of using hydrogen technologies for bus transport, organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Northern Primorska region and attended by representatives of municipalities, universities, hydrogen associations and hydrogen professionals from several EU countries. This tour is part of the "Central and Eastern Europen Hydrogen Bus" roadshow, part of the JIVE 2 project, co-financed by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership.
During the hydrogen bus tour in Slovenia, H2STUDENT workshops were held for students and primary school pupils in Tolmin, Kanal, Deskla and Šoštanj. They learned about the negative impact of combustion engines on air quality and about a new alternative source - hydrogen - that does not have these impacts. The H2STUDENT programme has been developed by the Slovenian company ECUBES technologies d.o.o., which invests a lot of energy in creating a hydrogen infrastructure, one of the preconditions for more hydrogen cars on Slovenia's roads.
The city bus uses hydrogen fuel cells developed by Toyota, mounted on the roof of the bus together with the tanks. According to a Caetano spokesperson, they are designed for passenger safety and ease of maintenance. The tanks can hold a maximum of 37.5 kilograms of hydrogen at 350 bar, enough for the bus to travel at least 450 kilometres. The bus consumes about six kilograms of hydrogen every 100 kilometres.
The hydrogen-powered bus began its tour of Slovenia in Tolmin, continued in Nova Gorica and ended its journey in Celje, at the Faculty of Logistics of the University of Maribor.
