The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Metropolitan Company of Urban Transport of São Paulo (EMTU) have embarked on a hydrogen fuel cell bus test and development program. The project is being done in partnership with the United Nations Development Program and will be operating in São Paulo. The first bus will be a 12 meter, 90 passenger unit with a hybrid fuel cell/battery power-train with a range of about 180 miles. The $16 million dollar project will include the purchase, operation and maintenance of five buses for four years and a hydrogen production and filling station.

The metro São Paulo area has the world's largest fleet of buses with an estimated 30,000 units in operation. Having so many diesel buses concentrated in an urban area has a major impact on the environment, and moving to pollution-free buses would provide a major benefit. Since Brazil gets 92 percent of its electricity from hydro power, they chose to use electrolysis as the means for producing the hydrogen.

[Source: Brazil-Arab News Agency via GreenCarCongress]