Intercity Transit in Olympia is taking delivery of five hydrogen fuel cell buses starting this month. Lewis County Transit is currently testing three and has ordered three more. And Community Transit in Snohomish County is testing one – alongside a new all-electric bus.
All three transit agencies are comparing performance of hydrogen-power with all-electric battery-powered buses, as they manage the switch to zero-emissions vehicles. Tests include fuel efficiency and performance along actual routes, to compare the effects of hills and colder temperatures on range.
In addition to its five new 40-foot hydrogen buses, Thurston County’s Intercity Transit has awarded a $4.6 million contract for a hydrogen fueling station in Olympia. The total price tag on the buses is nearly $9 million. The demonstration project marks the start of the agency’s transition to a zero-emissions fleet, with a goal of getting to 100% by 2045.
The agency will also add three battery-electric powered buses next year. Spokesperson Nick Demerice said it made sense to add the hydrogen buses first, because they have more range and refuel much faster.
“Some of the battery electric buses are taking hours, or even overnight to be able to get a full charge,” Demerice said, adding that the typical schedule for an Intercity Transit bus includes a long circuit encompassing several different routes per day, not fixed loops on one route. They need a lot of flexibility, which hydrogen buses provide.
“So we can refuel these much quicker – and then with the added range – that allows us to cover our entirety of our system as well,” he said.
Demerice said about 80% of the project costs are covered by state grants, including the Climate Commitment Act. The rest comes from the agency’s operating budget, funded primarily by a local sales tax that is dedicated to transit.
Currently, all of Intercity Transit’s vehicles run on renewable diesel or propane. Some of the diesel buses are hybrids.
Hydrogen-powered buses use an on-board chemical reaction in fuel cells, to power electric batteries. Their tailpipes emit only water vapor.
The hope is that the emerging federally funded Pacific Northwest hydrogen hub – with a “node” in nearby Chehalis – will soon bring a reliable source of what is known as “green hydrogen” to the area near Olympia. It would likely be produced through electrolysis using electricity from renewable energy sources – and ideally transported using renewable fuels. That could make Intercity Transit’s hydrogen-powered buses truly emissions-free.
Lewis Transit is the state’s first mover in this field. It got its first hydrogen bus last May. And its plans included the purchase of an electrolyzer to produce its own hydrogen fuel from water, using 99% clean electricity.
But the sources of hydrogen that are currently widely available are produced using fossil fuels and have to be trucked in from California, causing significant carbon emissions. This is often referred to as “gray hydrogen.” And right now, that’s what is reliably available in the region.
"The hydrogen that we're using for the pilot in the here and now is gray hydrogen,” said Jay Heim, the zero emissions manager for Community Transit in Everett.
Heim said his agency opted for a smaller pilot, in which they are testing just one hydrogen-powered bus, alongside one electric battery powered bus. Riders may see the new hydrogen bus on paying routes as soon as this fall. He said its distinctive blue and yellow wrap will make it hard to miss.
He said the hydrogen buses have longer range and can re-fuel much more quickly than all-electric buses; they also perform better in cold weather. All of these features make them a desirable addition to the fleet, but that will only happen if the fuel sourcing improves, enabling a switch to a more local source that produces hydrogen without reliance on fossil fuels.
“That really is something that has to manifest in order for this to pencil out, from an environmental perspective,” Heim said.
They are "actively seeking green partners, or low carbon intensity partners," Heim said. And there are a variety of technologies in development that seem promising, including extracting hydrogen from methane. Emerging hydrogen producers in Ferndale, near Bellingham, are part of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association that helped bring the federal hydrogen hub to Washington.
The current lack of a renewable hydrogen source in the region was also a factor in King County Metro’s decision against testing hydrogen buses, for now. Last year, the agency considered a plan to purchase up to four hydrogen buses, but opted against it, also because there is currently only one hydrogen fuel cell bus vendor in North America.
Spokesman Al Sanders said via email that Metro continues to learn from and evaluate other agencies that are testing and using hydrogen buses, to determine whether and how they can play a role in its transition to zero emissions.
“In the meantime, Metro remains focused on implementing Battery Electric Bus (BEB) technology—alongside our fully-electric trolley buses—in this phase of our zero emissions transition,” Sanders said.
