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Many governments in Canada and the United States are currently
pushing "alternative" and so-called "clean"
fuels as solutions to the environmental damage wrought by
transportation. Such efforts are often seriously misguided since
they frequently overlook the need for improved energy efficiency.
In many areas, natural gas is being embraced as a fuel for
buses despite the higher costs and reduced performance it
entails. A study for Los Angeles showed that natural gas and
clean diesel technologies are roughly equivalent in emissions and
that the electric trolleybus was the only truly clean vehicle,
even when power plant emissions were considered. The transit
agency in Seattle has wisely realised this and recently cancelled
an order for 360 liquid natural gas buses in favour of clean
diesel technology and increased service hours.
In Vancouver, the provincial government is financing the
development of an even more dubious "clean" fuel
vehicle: the hydrogen fuel cell bus. This vehicle uses a
catalytic membrane to produce electricity and water from hydrogen
and air.
The hydrogen gas required by the bus must be produced
artificially. One method uses non-renewable natural gas,
generating carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Electrolysis of
water can also be used but this is only one-third efficient and
so requires a considerable electricity input. Using hydrogen to
power motor vehicles merely exports the production of pollution
from urban areas while requiring very high energy inputs.
Vancouver already has an efficient zero emission vehicle, the
electric trolleybus. In fact, we have the continent's second
largest trolleybus system. Why is an unproved, costly technology
being funded when enhancing the current system could be done more
rapidly and at less cost?
Reducing our energy use is vital for mitigating society's
damage to the environment. This is best done by improving public
transportation and land use, not by finding new ways to justify
continued dependence on the private automobile. "Clean"
fuels for automobiles and transit are a red herring which will
only delay the inevitable shift to truly environmentally
sustainable transportation and land use solutions.
Ian Fisher
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