The national FCB project office organized a delegation to visit Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Iceland and France from Sept. 11 to Sept. 26, 2004. The objectives of the visit included gaining an increased understanding of the planning, operation, and policies for fuel cell bus projects through studying the experience of the European projects. The delegation, headed by Mr. Chen Jiachang, Deputy Director of the National Project, was composed of officials and experts from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), State Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, China International Center for Economic & Technical Exchanges of Ministry of Commerce, Society of Automotive Engineers of China, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Tsinghua University and the National FCB Demonstration Office. During the study tour, the delegation visited 5 CUTE projects in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Hamburg and Stuttgart, and the FCB project in Reykjavik, Iceland supported by Ecological City Transportation System (ECOTS). The delegation also participated in “Information and Brokerage Event of FP6 – Call for Proposals on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells” held in Brussels between Sept. 20-22, 2004. During the keynote speech, the conference chairman extended a special warm welcome to the Chinese delegation. As an invited speaker, Director Chen Jiachang, on behalf of the Chinese government, made a presentation at the conference to express China’s interest in participating in EU’s hydrogen and fuel cell projects and introduced the R&D team from China. His speech attracted great attention from various countries experts and officials.

      During the study tour in Europe, the delegates gained a deeper understanding of the “Clean Urban Transport in Europe” (CUTE)--the world’s largest FCB demo project--and the ECOTS project. The policies and measures adopted by EU to secure energy safety, environment protection, clean energy vehicles development and sustainable transportation were very impressive to the delegates. The European Commission is allocating ?18.5 million Euro to the CUTE FCB demonstration project, in which 9 European cities are each testing three hydrogen FCBs. These cities are Amsterdam (Netherlands), Barcelona (Spain), Hamburg (Germany), London (U.K.), Luxembourg, Madrid (Spain), Porto (Portugal), Stockholm (Sweden) and Stuttgart (Germany). The CUTE project started in November 2001 and will continue until May 2006. Another 3 buses will run within the associated project ECTOS in Reykjavik (Iceland). The goal of these projects is to test the fuel-cell drive system in everyday use under various topographical and climatic conditions, to test the operation of hydrogen filling stations, and to gain practical operating experience of FCBs. The programs are also to promote public awareness and acceptance of the FCBs and hydrogen infrastructure and to prepare for the mass application of FCBs.

The 10 cities consist of 4 categories under different conditions of:

Climate: London, Barcelona, Stockholm, Porto
Topography: Hamburg, Stuttgart, Porto
Traffic: Amsterdam, London, Luxembourg, Madrid
CO2 free transportation system: Reykjavik

The major objectives of two-year FCB demo project in urban cities are:

· Demonstration of 27 fuel cell powered regular service buses over a period of two years in 9 European inner city areas to illustrate the large spectrum of different operating conditions to be found in Europe.

· Design, construction and operation of the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen production and refueling stations.

· Gather information concerning safety, standardization and operations under different conditions.

· Ecological, technical and economical analysis of the entire life cycle and comparison with conventional alternatives，including the amount of CO2 reduction.

During the study visit in the 6 European cities, the delegation met with managers and technical people engaged in the CUTE project, toured the on-site hydrogen production and refueling facilities, took the opportunity to ride the Citaro fuel cell bus running on its regular demonstration route and discussed with the CUTE people issues such as the operation of the fuel cell bus, construction and maintenance of hydrogen filling stations, and certification of vehicles.

This study visit was a remarkable, eye-opening experience; the delegation gained much knowledge about the concept of fuel cell buses, hydrogen filling station, and European project management models (see Part II). The main points of the study tour can be summarized as follows:

1. Government policy and financial support is crucial.

As in the United States and Japan, the Europe Union governments also consider hydrogen a flexible energy solution. Europe Union countries emphasize the R&D and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell buses in order to enhance energy availability. Because energy shortages in China have become a vital concern for national economic development, the Chinese government has also put energy as the top priority among all science and technology developments. Hydrogen energy has been identified by domestic and overseas experts and officials as the major future energy solution for China. In order to avoid having policies and regulations inhibiting the large scale commercialization of hydrogen, the projects should involve all relevant players, such as politicians, hydrogen suppliers, vehicle manufacturers, transport organizations and universities. Government agencies have provided policy support, assisted in establishing the demonstration programs, and gathered information in order to develop an industry roadmap, standards and codes. As a result of strong support from government in terms of policy and funding, remarkable progress has been made in the European Union in hydrogen and fuel cell bus technology demonstrations.

2. Operation and management models in Iceland provide a good model

As a participant of ECOTS project, the operation and management model in Iceland provided a good example. Vistorka was established with shareholders from venture capital funds, university, power plants, and the energy departments of the Icelandic government. In May 1999, a joint venture company, Icelandic New Energy (INE), was formed between the Icelandic Holding Company (Vistorka), Shell Hydrogen, Norsk Hydro and DaimlerChrysler, with Vistorka holding the 51% majority shares and the other three shareholders each holding 16.33% shares. During the ECTOS project, INE will work with the Icelandic authorities to test the technologies and the distribution system. This will initially involve the manufacture of custom-built equipment, the provision of basic hydrogen infrastructure and the study of vehicle performance under real conditions. Afterwards, hydrogen energy technologies will be extended to other fields. Operational funding is mainly from government, related industry and international sources. The INE team consists of experienced professionals from energy, transport and technology sectors. The Icelandic operation and management on ECOTS project is very successful, implying that it may be useful as a model for the energy sector in China.

3. The development of codes and standards needs to be emphasized

Difficulties and problems have been initially encountered by the demonstration projects in the European cities due to unavailability of related codes and standards on hydrogen filling station and fuel cell buses.

Similar problems have occurred in China during the creation of electric vehicles, fuel cell buses, and the construction of the hydrogen filling station in Beijing. It is urgent for China to develop appropriate codes and standards, to serve as both a basis for government regulation and to provide guidance for technology and market developments.

In order to develop the codes and standards, we need to build on international experience and standards combined with existing Chinese standards to develop codes that will enable the further development of FCBs and hydrogen infrastructure in China.

4. Further enhance international exchange and cooperation

10 cities in Europe have already established their first hydrogen filling stations which have been in operation for about 1 year. Different technical processes were adopted in the planning, design, construction, operation and management of the hydrogen infrastructure, providing a useful base of experience and knowledge. In addition, a variety of hydrogen filling stations have also been developed in the U.S., Japan, Singapore and Australia. We can benefit from wide international cooperation by gaining knowledge of advanced technology in hydrogen infrastructure to promote its rapid growth in China.

Although China has not yet reached the world leading level on the hydrogen energy and fuel cell bus technology, we have developed some key technologies. Development of hydrogen energy and FCB technology in China has attracted the attention of the European Union and other countries.

Beijing is starting to build the first high-pressure hydrogen filling station in China. The station will include multiple sources of hydrogen including external supply, electrolysis and steam reformation. International information exchange and cooperation with industrialized countries in the development of hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell buses will help to share the technical and financial risks, and enable the cost-reduction of fuel-cell buses for public transport applications.

5. Emphasis on education and public awareness of hydrogen

Industrialized countries such as the U.S., Japan and European countries began the education of the public concerning hydrogen technology several years ago. President George W. Bush and Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi drove in person fuel cell vehicles in public, playing an important role in promoting hydrogen technology development and popularizing the use of hydrogen energy. During the operation of the CUTE and ECOTS project in Europe, each city has paid great attention to education and communication of publication of hydrogen information. The public transport companies purposely launched hydrogen education in the fuel cell buses, such as posting hydrogen and fuel cell bus working principles in each bus, delivering brochures and CDs to enable the public to increase their understanding of high pressure hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles and to learn about hydrogen and its implications for the future. In Stuttgart, the public transport company even drove the fuel cell bus to the school to inform the students about hydrogen and clean transportation.