City welcomes 'green' addition to fleet

Burlington Free Press
Lauren Ober
July 4, 2006

Burlington might be one tiny step closer to energy independence after the unveiling of the city's newest green vehicle.

The city welcomed New England's first hydrogen fueling station with much fanfare Monday. As a crowd of about 50 people admired the new fuel pump and hydrogen production plant at Burlington Electric Department on Pine Street, Rep. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., drove up in the state's first hydrogen-powered vehicle, which will use the station to fill up.

With Sanders, who helped secure a $1 million Department of Energy grant for the project, behind the wheel, the retrofitted 2005 Toyota Prius cruised up to the pump without a sound for the unveiling. Project coordinators then demonstrated the new pump, topping off the car's fuel tank with hydrogen.

The project, which began in late 2004, is a joint effort by the U.S. Department of Energy, the city of Burlington, Burlington Electric Department, Northern Power, Proton Energy Systems and EVermont, a nonprofit that deals with alternative fuel research and development. The car will be used as a pilot vehicle by the Department of Public Works for three years and its performance in inclement weather will be tested.

John Kassel, chairman of EVermont, whose shirt and tie perfectly matched the Prius' light blue and green paint accents, expressed enthusiasm for the project and said he looked forward to showing that it was possible to meet transportation needs with less petroleum.

"We can produce our own fuel and we're thrilled to have been able to do that," Kassel said.

On the eve of America's Independence Day, both Sanders and Kassel drew parallels to the country's need for energy self-sufficiency.

"We need to break our dependency on Mideast oil and polluting fossil fuels," Sanders said. "This will help us move sooner rather than later away from fossil fuels that are contributing to environmental degradation and global warning."

The hydrogen production plant, built by Waitsfield-based Northern Power, uses electricity from the Burlington Electric Department's wind turbine to split the hydrogen and oxygen from water. The hydrogen is then pumped directly into the vehicle, which was converted to accept hydrogen by a California company called Quantum Technologies.

The four-cylinder, turbo-charged vehicle isn't set up to drive long distances because its fuel tank is modified, but Nick Borland, project manager for Northern Power, said it could easily be outfitted to accommodate more hydrogen.

Borland assures that the vehicle is as safe as any on the road and that fuel will not dispense in the car in the event of an accident. The car produces zero carbon emissions and no greenhouse gases, making it far cleaner than conventional gasoline-fueled vehicles, Borland said.

This type of technology is too expensive for the private consumer at the moment, but by testing this technology in Burlington, engineers will have a better idea how to make hydrogen fuel vehicles more accessible.

"We're trying to head towards a more diverse energy future," Borland said.
Have a question, comment, story idea? Contact Lauren Ober at 660-1868 or lober@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com How it works

The hydrogen production plant uses electricity from the Burlington Electric Department's wind turbine to extract hydrogen and oxygen from water and then compress it for storage in high-pressure tanks. The hydrogen is then dispensed directly into the vehicle. The car doesn't have a gas tank and its only emission is water vapor instead of carbon dioxide.