The national FCB project office visit Germany,Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Iceland and

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.