Case Studies

Pinnacle Engines

Pinnacle engines can lead to an overall 20-50 % improvement in the fuel economy of automobiles. Further, since they are Euro IV, V, and VI compliant, they aid in reducing emissions. Their cost is comparable to the IC engines today.

Guiyang Zhongtian Green Low-carbon Practices Area

Incentives have been provided to encourage the adoption of low-emission cars and carpooling. These incentives include providing preferred parking spaces and parking fee incentives for cleaner vehicles.

Seattle Electric Vehicle Program

The city of Seattle has been working on being Electric Vehicle (EV) ready since 2009. The city has been collaborating with local universities and governments, businesses, non-profits, and electric vehicle enthusiasts to create a robust regional charging infrastructure for EVs. In terms of achievement, 43 all-electric vehicles have replaced less efficient vehicles since 2011. This has resulted in savings of over 7,600 gallons of gasoline. Customers also benefit from lifetime savings of $3-4K with EVs over hybrid or conventional vehicles. In the year 2010, Seattle was awarded 2010’s Top Green Fleet award from 100 Best Fleets.

New York City Select Bus System

The New York City Department of Transportation and the MTA New York City Transit implemented the Bus Rapid Transit system in New York called the Select Bus Service. Select Bus Service takes many of the elements of BRT and adapts them to New York City’s streets. Features of the service include faster fare collection at the stop to reduce the time takes to pick up and drop off passengers, priority bus lanes that are restricted for buses, transit signal priority that gets buses an extended green light at some intersections to reduce stop time, and camera enforcement to penalize drivers who illegally park or drive in the bus lanes. The system has been shown to increase ridership on buses by about 10 percent and has increased speeds between 15 and 20 percent on different routes.

Overview of Alternative Fuel Technologies for Buses

Besides compressed natural gas (CNG) buses and clean diesel buses, there are numerous alternative fuel technologies for public transport buses available; the most notable are hythane buses, hybrid buses, and fuel cell buses powered by pure hydrogen.

Hythane Buses

CNG buses are looked upon as a potential alternative to diesel buses – they are less polluting, and the fuel is widely available. However, to reduce their pollutants further, CNG buses can be converted to run-on hyphae. Mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas are considered viable alternative fuels to lower overall pollutant emissions but suffer from problems associated with on-board storage of hydrogen, resulting in limited vehicle range. Hythane, a patented product, is a mixture of 20 percent by volume of H2 and 80 percent methane. Many cities in the world are experimenting with hythane, such as the Beijing Hythane Bus Project, whose demonstration phase will be to adapt 30 natural gas engines for hythane operation.

Hybrid Buses

An emerging alternative to conventional diesel engines is electric hybrid bus technology. Hybrid buses typically use an electric drive coupled in series or operating in parallel with a combustion engine and traction battery. To a fleet operator, hybrid technology is attractive because it does not require the development of new refueling infrastructure or modifications to existing maintenance areas. The average price of a 40-foot hybrid bus typically ranges from $450,000 - $550,000. In the US, the federal Clean Fuels Grant Program covers 90 percent of the incremental cost of alternative fuel buses, including hybrids. We recommend a similar incentive structure in your city.

Fuel Cell Buses

Fuel cell buses run on hydrogen, which can be stored on board in high-pressure cylinders or could be produced on board through natural gas or methanol. Progress in fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs) demonstrations in the United States this year includes an increase

in the number from 15 to 25, operating at eight transit agencies. The operating FCEBs include 16 new buses from Van Hool and UTC Power that use a Siemens hybrid electric propulsion system and Ener1 lithium-based batteries for energy storage. These buses are operating in two locations: 12 in San Francisco, California; and 4 in Hartford, Connecticut.

Electric Vehicles and Pooled Vehicles

The potential benefits of electric vehicles compared to gas-powered cars include their lack of any harmful emissions, which reduces greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Also, implementing more electric vehicles will free your city’s economy from its dependence on foreign oil.  In addition, regenerative braking is a feature present in many hybrid vehicles, where approximately 20% of the energy lost in the brakes is recovered and used to recharge the batteries.

Some of the low-speed, low-range EVs can be applicable for community pooled vehicles, especially on-campus at various universities, institutes, government establishments, laboratories, and office campuses.

The company ZipCar is no stranger to sustainable efforts with its mission to "make life more rewarding, sustainable and affordable.” In other words, ZipCar's goal is to lessen a societal burden.  They want to eliminate transportation problems, revolutionize the industry so that it is more sustainable, and make it cheaper and more accessible for everyone (CarSharing). Each Zipcar takes at least 15 personally owned vehicles off the road and 90% of ZipCar members in the US drive 5,500 miles or less per year after joining ZipCars. This adds up to more than 32 million gallons of crude oil left unused; that's 219 gallons saved per member (Car Sharing). They also carry electric vehicles.