The University has applied for a 2million Euro grant to run a ground-breaking environmentally-friendly transport system. Buses will run between the West Cambridge site and the city centre in what would be the world's largest solar-hydrogen energy demonstration project. The buses will be quieter and cleaner than their conventional counterparts - the only emission from their fuel cell engines will be water vapour.

The technology at the heart of this project is an innovative system of photovoltaic cells that will convert sunlight into electricity, and then use the electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

The photovoltaic cells will be installed above a covered colonnade at the West Cambridge site. The University of Cambridge Estate Management and Building Service is managing the renewable energy project as part of the West Cambridge development. It will form part of the overall infrastructure of the development which already includes another ground-breaking green transport initiative - the UK's first park and cycle scheme.

Colin Saunders, Project Manager for EMBS says:
"The photovoltaic colonnade and fuel cell bus project is very exciting, it presents a green alternative to oil. This is transport from sunshine. The scheme is an operational demonstration of areas of technology that are under research within the University. These include photovoltaic cells, gas storage, fuel cells and the technology to control the emerging systems. It will raise global interest."

Central to the scheme is a research project led by Professor Gehan Amaratunga, Head of the Electronics, Power and Energy Conservation Group in the Engineering Department. The team will monitor how the technology behaves for future installations.

The proposal has been made in partnership with consulting engineers Whitby Bird and Partners and the Municipality of Gotland, Sweden.

Ben Madden of Whitby Bird and Partners explains the significance of the project:
"This project will demonstrate how hydrogen allows renewable energy to be stored and used in transport. It will encourage the uptake of similar technologies, acting as the first step on the path leading us out of an economy based on climate-changing fossil fuels."

His colleague, Dr Shane Slater, adds:
"The replacement of fossil fuels with hydrogen is a revolution that will deliver, for the first time, an abundant and secure source of energy that will be entirely carbon-free, right through production and distribution to end-use."

A similar project will be carried out on the island of Gotland, where an array of photovoltaic cells will replace the roofs of a number of municipal buildings. The project will be carried out in Visby, a world heritage city, where there is demand for a clean transport system to protect the city's medieval wall. The island of Gotland is aiming for a completely sustainable society by the year 2025.

The joint project was submitted to the European Commission earlier this year and final approval is anticipated by the end of 2001.


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