High on Hydrogen

Iceland's ambitious plan of becoming the world's first 'hydrogen economy' took off with the unveiling of plans for an experimental hydrogen-powered bus fleet. The fleet will be managed under the Ecological City Transport System (ECTOS) project. The project will be supported by the European Commission, and will operate on a budget of US $6.38 million. It will run for four years. The project will deal with the operation of hydrogen fuel cell buses and the availability of supporting infrastructure. The first two years will be dedicated to building of refilling stations in Reykjavik where hydrogen would be produced using electrolytic processes. Hydrogen fuel will to begin with, power three fuel cell buses of the Reykjavik Municipal Bus Corporation for two years. Iceland intends to run its entire public vehicle sector on hydrogen fuel and this project will be the first practical steps towards its fulfilling its ambition of reducing dependence on fossil-based fuels. The country plans to follow this up by powering its private cars also with hydrogen fuel.