Prospects and impediments for hydrogen fuel cell buses

Highlights: • Worldwide, buses are the mostly used public transport mode in urban areas. • To reduce GHG emissions diesel buses have to be replaced by zero-emission vehicles. • Major obstacle for fuel cell buses are high investment costs. • The investment costs of green buses could be reduced by technological learning. • Full environmental benefits of fuel cell buses could be reached only in combination with RES. The number of demonstration projects with fuel cell buses has been increasing worldwide. The goal of this paper is to analyse prospects and barriers for fuel cell buses focusing on their economic-, technical-, and environmental performance. Our results show that the prices of fuel cell buses, although decreasing over time, are still about 40% higher than those of diesel buses. With the looming ban of diesel vehicles, and current limitations of battery electric vehicles, fuel cell buses could become a viable alternative in the mid-to long-term. With the requirements for a better integration of renewable energy sources in the transport system, interest in hydrogen is rising. Hydrogen produced from renewables used in fuel cell buses has the potential to save about 93% of CO₂ emissions in comparison to diesel buses. Yet, from environmental point-of-view it has to be ensured that hydrogen is produced from renewables. Currently, the major barrier, for a faster penetration of fuel cell buses are their high purchase prices, which could be significantly reduced with the increasing number of buses through technological learning. The final conclusion is that a tougher transport policy framework is needed which fully reflects the environmental impact of different buses used.