A FLEET of 20 new hydrogen double decker buses have been bought by Birmingham City Council as part of its Clean Air Hydrogen Bus pilot.
The pilot looks to ‘kick-start’ the hydrogen market as a viable zero-emission fuel with the procurement and deployment of the buses in the city.
Made by Wrightbus, the vehicles are the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell double deckers and will be introduced with National Express West Midlands from April 2021.
It’s intended that pilot will be the catalyst for the next generation of hydrogen buses, hydrogen production and re-fuelling infrastructure development.
The council have also collaborated with ITM, who will be producing and dispensing the hydrogen fuel from the new re-fuelling hub at Tyseley Energy Park.
Hydrogen buses consume four times less fuel in comparison to standard diesel buses, covering 300 miles on a single tank and with the ability to refuel within ten minutes.
They emit water vapour, meaning no carbon dioxide or other harmful gases are being pumped in to the air and each bus is expected to save up to 79.3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per annum.
Tom Stables, the managing director of National Express UK said: “National Express West Midlands announced earlier this year that our entire bus fleet will be zero-emission by 2030 and we are already operating 29 fully electric buses in Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry.
“By operating hydrogen double deckers in service in Birmingham, we will learn which routes lend themselves to hydrogen buses and what the mix of vehicles in our fleet should be going forward.”
