Jan 18 2011
Ballard Power Systems has signed an agreement to deliver three fuel cell power modules to Tuttotrasporti, an operator of hybrid transit buses in Brazil. Ballard's fuel cell modules are designed for the utilization in zero-emission buses run by Brazilian transit agencies.
For the past 20 years, Tuttotrasporti has included over 125,000 vehicles in the transit, truck and intercity transportation sectors. Tuttotrasporti and Ballard Power previously collaborated on a fuel cell bus development via the United Nations Development Programme / Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos (UNDP / EMTU) program.
Increase in the usage of fuel cell-powered buses is anticipated to reduce expenditure through scale economies, which in turn enables fuel cell solutions to participate more efficiently with current transit technologies.
Brazil launched the National Plan on Climate Change, a cluster of inter-ministerial programs intended to cut emissions in the forestry, energy, transportation and industrial segments. As per the plan, the government is dedicated to considerable use of zero-emission transit technology. Initiatives will be executed in the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be conducted in Brazil and continued further.
In Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, greenhouse gas emissions are about 3 million tons every year of which 85% is produced by vehicles. Thus, clean energy transportation is highly important, according to the National Plan on Climate Change.