Federal Transportation Bill Includes Funding for Major Hydrogen Bus R&D Program

PASADENA, Calif.--Aug. 2, 2005--Congress has provided funding for an ambitious, competitive four-year hydrogen and fuel cell bus research and development program supported by WestStart-CALSTART that can make America a leader in this new, clean technology arena and help address critical energy security challenges.

Congress approved $49-million in funding for the National Fuel Cell Bus Technology Development Program as a component of the just-passed $287-billion Transportation Equity Act of 2005. The program will speed work to make hydrogen and fuel cell buses commercially viable, focusing on critical areas of technology development.

WestStart-CALSTART, together with a national team of more than 30 leading bus makers, operators and technology developers, formed the National Fuel Cell Bus Technology Initiative (NFCBTI) and led the effort to ensure funding for this critical effort to keep America competitive in these new technologies.

"In a time of tight budgets, we commend Congress for giving the U.S. an important chance to be a leader in technology than can help improve urban air quality and reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil," said WestStart-CALSTART's President and CEO, John Boesel. "Though the measure received strong bipartisan support across the country, we want to particularly recognize the leadership of Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) and Congresswoman Mary Bono (R-CA)."

WestStart-CALSTART and NFCBTI supporters believe that the transit bus market is the best early market for the development and introduction of vehicular fuel cell technology. Transit's centralized refueling stations and the ability to place hydrogen cylinders on the roof of a bus eliminate two major challenges to the introduction of fuel cells in passenger cars, the lack of refueling infrastructure and the space requirements for hydrogen storage. Transit also has a history of being first to introduce new fuels and technology.

Europe has been an early leader in fuel cells for transit. The European Commission has already funded a major fuel cell bus demonstration program that has deployed and tested 32 early generation fuel cell buses in 11 different European cities. However, there is a tremendous need to improve the base technologies.

In contrast to the European program, the U.S. program will focus more on the key technical challenges preventing fuel cell buses from becoming commercially viable. It will be a competitive, national program that will identify and support the nation's best hydrogen and fuel cell teams and technologies for transit. The $49-million program runs from 2006-2009 to develop and validate systems that can lead to commercialization.

WestStart-CALSTART is now beginning to work with industry to identify the best project ideas for possible review: contact Fred Silver at fsilver@weststart.org.

Fuel cells offer a tremendous opportunity to improve air quality, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and help prevent climate change. Boesel noted, "We believe Congress acted wisely in providing resources to developing solutions that can address both energy security as well as environmental challenges. NFCBTI is one of the long-range programs the nation needs to address the impacts of our transportation system."

A complete list of the NFCBTI supporters is attached. For more information, visit: http://www.calstart.org/programs/FuelCell/NFCBTI_backgrounder.pdf.

WestStart-CALSTART is North America's leading advanced transportation technologies consortium. It is a fuel neutral, participant-supported organization of more than 115 companies and agencies, dedicated to expanding and supporting a high-tech transportation industry that cleans the air, creates jobs and improves energy efficiency. WestStart-CALSTART is playing a leading national role in facilitating the development of advanced propulsion systems and alternative fuels in the transit and heavy-duty vehicle industry, and in new systems for personal mobility. The California operating division does business as CALSTART. Visit www.weststart.org for more information.

             NATIONAL FUEL CELL BUS TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
                          INDUSTRY SUPPORTERS

                              AC Transit
                      Air Products and Chemicals
                                Ballard
                                Boeing
           CEO Coalition to Advance Sustainable Technologies
                                Cobasys
                               Donaldson
                              Ebus, Inc.
                              ECD Ovonics
                             Enova Systems
                Environmental & Energy Study Institute
                              Hydrogenics
                                 H2Gen
                                Idatech
                             ISE Research
                            Millennium Cell
                     National Hydrogen Association
                     North American Bus Industries
                 Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium
                           Nuvera Fuel Cells
                             Pi Technology
                         Quantum Technologies
                Solectria Corporation (Azure Dynamics)
                            SunLine Transit
                            Thor Industries
      Tri-Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet)
                        U.S. Fuel Cell Council
                         US Hybrid Corporation
                            UTC Fuel Cells
                          WestStart-CALSTART