Exploring a Hydrogen-Fueled Future

Community Transit's hydrogen-powered bus, the first of its kind in the Puget Sound region. Photo from Community Transit.

Community Transit announced Monday afternoon that it has taken delivery of a fuel cell electric bus" (FCEB), stating it's the first of its kind in the Puget Sound region. The hydrogen-powered bus was made by New Flyer and is part of a pilot program to assess potential vehicles as Community Transit works towards replacing 30% of its 260-bus fleet (78 buses) to zero-emissions vehicles by 2030. Community Transit's Zero Emission Bus Transition Plan (pdf) details how they aim to achieve a transition to 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2044.

In addition to the fuel cell bus, Community Transit also recently took delivery of its firstBattery Electric Bus (BEB), which was built by Gillig. Everett Transit started testing battery buses in 2020, and as of 2023, 15 of its 45 buses are BEBs (pdf).

From Community Transit's press release:

Because of Snohomish County's varied routes and terrain, and its large service area, the agency will test and evaluate the performance of both types of electric buses in service.Close monitoring will validate the performance assumptions in the agency's transition plan, which envisions use of FCEB technology on heavy duty routes like Swift bus rapid transit (BRT) lines where greater battery range would be necessary.

FCEBs have fuel cells that convert hydrogen into electricity through a catalytic process that separates hydrogen molecules into protons & electrons. The onboard batteries that power the vehicle get charged and the sole byproduct is water. Besides having greater range in terms of coverage area, FCEBs are less impacted by cold weather. With FCEBs, the conversion of hydrogen to electricity produces heat, which can be used to heat the passenger cabin.

Electricity provided by Snohomish County Public Utility District is generated by about 96.5% carbon-neutral sources, but fuel cell-worthy hydrogen, especially carbon-free green" hydrogen, are hard to find in the PNW. Community Transit's press release notes that long-term operation of vehicles powered by hydrogen (such as their FCEB) will require establishment of a reliable and sustainable source of hydrogen to the region.

Bringing Hydrogen to the Pacific Northwest

Last year, the Seattle Times ($) reported that the US Department of Energy selected the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association (PNWH2), a multi-state nonprofit coalition of public and private partners planning to create a hydrogen network in the Pacific Northwest" for a potential award of up to $1 billion to develop a Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub". Across the nation, six other organizations were selected to develop hydrogen generation capacity in their home regions.

In the Pacific Northwest, eight cities are expected to be the center of projects as part of the PNWH2 Hub" projects: Centralia, Bellingham, East Wenatchee, Kennewick, and Chehalis in Washington; Boardman and Baker City in Oregon, and St. Regis in Montana.

General locations of proposed PNWH2 Hub projects.

There have been no updates from PNWH2 since the announcement of federal funding last year, so implementation of these projects remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the Washington State Department of Commerce released a report in January describing recommendations for deploying green hydrogen" and renewable fuels in the state. The report notes that current green hydrogen production capacity in the state is near zero" and highlights the need to ramp up production very quickly to meet the needs of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like FCEBs. In the meantime, a relatively common method of producing hydrogen is reacting methane (CH₄) with steam (H₂O) to produce hydrogen (H₂), and carbon monoxide (CO); in the process, some of the carbon monoxide unavoidably reacts with the steam to create carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Community Transit's transition plan recognizes that early adoption of fuel cell buses may require purchasing hydrogen produced from carbon-based sources until green hydrogen enters the local market. Lewis County Transit, which claimed the title of being the first agency to receive FCEBs in the Pacific Northwest in March of this year, is reportedly planning to generate their own green hydrogen via electrolysis.

The Zero-Emission Bus Transition Plan

Community Transit's transition plan achieves a zero-emission transit bus fleet by 2038, assuming 191 BEBs and 90 FCEBs. Afterwards, Community Transit plans to procure 19 additional battery buses, bringing the total fleet to 300 zero-emission buses. The timeline for infrastructure construction and vehicle procurement is neatly summarized in a chart estimating infrastructure costs and replacement fleet composition through 2050.

Bars indicate infrastructure costs; lines indicate total vehicles in service.

Testing of the its new electric buses will allow Community Transit to validate and modify the transition plan as needed. The buses procured this year are not included in overall count of zero-emissions buses expected to be procured in the future.