Article: Hybrid bus hits road

[ozbob]

From Queensland Times click here!

Hybrid bus hits road

Hybrid bus hits road

Andrew Korner | 22nd August 2009

IPSWICH commuters will be the first to road test a new hybrid bus which is claimed to use 30 per cent less fuel.

The two-week trial will determine whether or not the Australian designed, Chinese assembled diesel-electric passenger bus can hack it in the hot climate.

Transport Minister and Member for Ipswich Rachel Nolan said the bus was likely to run the 515 route via the University of Queensland, Riverlink and Bell Street.

?Transport contributes more than 10 per cent of Queensland's greenhouse gas emissions so it's really important that we seek to minimise it,? Ms Nolan said.

?We're going to run this bus pretty solidly around Ipswich for a couple of weeks to get a sense of whether this technology is going to work here, if it does it will really contribute to bringing down public transport's greenhouse gas emissions.?

The bus' seven-litre, six-cylinder Cummins engine runs on a parallel source of electric power and diesel, with the massive $10,000 lithium ion battery replenished while the bus is in motion. While fuel savings are estimated to be about 30 per cent, the initial purchase price of the hybrid is roughly $380,000 - $80,000 more than a standard diesel.

The government fitted out the trial hybrid at a total cost of $500,000.

Ms Nolan said American studies showed the added cost could be worth it, with greenhouse emissions cut more than 30 per cent compared with conventional diesel-driven buses.

?Over the two short weeks of the trial, if we take the American data into account, that would equate to two fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted and a 307 litre saving in fuel,? she said.

[ozbob]

Hybrid bus in Ipswich earlier today







Photographs mufreight 1st September 2009

[haakon]

I wonder if they will be running it on the weekends? I'd love to check it out. Might have to give Westbus a call tomorrow and find out.

[Sunbus610]

Rumour has it that Veolia Transport (Brisbane) will be next to trial this BCI Hybrid bus but not sure what VT bus route it will be assign too.

[O_128]

looks cheap and tacky

[Arnz]

Routes out of Griffith University Gold Coast, or University of the Sunshine Coast would be suitable routes for the Hybrid bus as well. 

But I can't see that happening with the Transit Australia Group (owners of Sunbus and Surfside) owning a Bus Building company themselves.

[#Metro]

Hmm. Just out of curiosity, when I go flying, the airline company has a section where I can offset my pollution. The extra cost is very cheap-like $5-$10. A bus makes nowhere near as much emissions as a jumbo jet, so wouldn't it be better to just use the "polluting" bus and just buy carbon credits?

I know that all transport by Brisbane City Council (Buses and Ferries) are carbon neutral, through such as scheme.

[ButFli]

There are only so many trees you can plant to off set carbon emissions. It's not just planting trees either, they have to be allowed to grow into maturity and when they die they have to be prevented from rotting. Carbon offset schemes are only a short term feel-good measure. Real progress needs to be made in actually reducing carbon emissions. Hybrids are a small step in the right direction.

Brisbane Transport is not carbon-neutral at present. Brisbane City Council as a whole aims to be carbon neutral by 2026 by emissions reduction and offsetting. Offsetting alone will not get them there.

[#Metro]

It's not always trees. Carbon offsets can be used on Wind power projects and the like...
So are the diesel buses more efficient/less polluting than the Natural gas buses? I've always though diesel was a dirty fuel...

[ozbob]

I am sure that gas/electric hybrid buses will be on stream down the track!

[somebody]

It's not always trees. Carbon offsets can be used on Wind power projects and the like...
So are the diesel buses more efficient/less polluting than the Natural gas buses? I've always though diesel was a dirty fuel...

I think the diesel/electric busses will be cleaner than a gas bus, especially if the gas bus is compression ignition, which still needs to have some diesel for ignition.

Sydney abandonned gas busses and said the best diesels where about as clean as a gas bus, so what's the point?  You could certainly notice the difference in power, even as a passenger, with the gas being a bit gutless.

[ozbob]

Check out this:

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/04/san-diego-launc.html

San Diego Launches CNG Hybrid-Electric Bus
29 April 2008
Cnghybrid
The CNG hybrid bus.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has launched its first commercial bus with a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) hybrid-electric drive system (CNG Hybrid Drive System). ISE Corporation (ISE) developed and supplied the system, a variant of its ThunderVolt gasoline hybrid drive, and integrated it into a standard 40-foot transit bus supplied by MTS.

The $1-million CNG hybrid prototype bus will further cut emissions and fuel consumption of the CNG buses in the MTS fleet, providing more power and a quieter ride. Funding for the program was provided by grants from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), San Diego Air Pollution Control District (APCD), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).