Inauguration of the first hydrogen-powered bus in Brussels
From the beginning of the school year, hydrogen-powered buses will be taken into service by the STIP (Brussels public transport). As a type of fuel, the great advantage of hydrogen is that it does not emit any gases.
In recent years, the STIB has been introducing more and more low-polluting vehicles, and it is planning to give up using vehicles with internal combustion engines within the next ten years. After investing in 37 new electric buses, which are already operating on the network, and having installed equipment in depots to recharge them, the STIB is now making its first move into hydrogen-powered buses. This will be very beneficial to the company, because by using 40 kg of hydrogen, the vehicle can travel between 300 and 500 km, which is twice the range of an electric bus.
The buses themselves will be leased from the Van Hool company for a period of two years. Tests on as many routes as possible will make it possible to carry out an in-depth analysis of their performance in different climatic conditions (summer-winter) and topographies that exist within the Brussels network. As far as safety is concerned, hydrogen-powered engines do not present any greater risk of explosion than conventional combustion engines or gas-powered engines. Many cities such as Paris, Lille, Los Angeles or Cologne, are championing the advantages of hydrogen-powered vehicles, even when compared to electric vehicles. The stakes are high when you consider that the public transport company manages a fleet of 900 vehicles. For the time being, the STIB will obtain its supply of hydrogen at an accessible site in Zaventem, but it plans to install a mobile station in early 2022.