Air Products to fuel hydrogen bus fleet

Air Products has signed a contract worth £3.4m with Transport for London to provide hydrogen fuel for the city’s planned fleet of hydrogen buses. The contract also requires Air Products to build and maintain the hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure for the buses, which are expected to be in service by 2010.

In February 2006, the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone announced the London Hydrogen Transport programme, which aims to introduce 70 new hydrogen vehicles into London, 10 of which will be buses.

Hydrogen vehicles are said to be clean and efficient, and it is expected that the 10 hydrogen hybrid buses will produce substantially fewer emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful air pollutants than conventional diesel buses.

Deputy mayor of London and chair of the London Hydrogen Partnership, Nicky Gavron, said: ‘Today’s announcement is an exciting development and a serious step towards the capital’s aim of reducing emissions from London’s public transport network. It again underlines London’s commitment to do what we can to tackle climate change and sends a strong signal to industry that London is the place to come to deliver hydrogen vehicles.’