Turkey’s hydrogen bus to set off in 2012

Dilek Kösedağı ISTANBUL/Radikal

The country’s first hydrogen plant seen above was launched in Bozcaada in October. AA photo

Turkey is preparing to launch its first hybrid public bus next year, a $1.5 million project supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which aims to support environmentally friendly fuel technologies in public transportation.
The bus will be the first bus running on hydrogen energy in Turkey and will operate between the Beşiktaş and Edirnekapı neighborhoods of Istanbul.
Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul transport authority (IETT), Gebze Institute of Technology and Tekno Design coordinated the project run by UNIDO’s International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET).
Despite the considerably high cost of the investment required for such environmental technologies, more and more people consider alternative ways of energy to reduce carbon emissions. ICHET will invest nearly $1.2 million in hydrogen stations in Turkey.
A hydrogen filling station will be built in Istanbul’s Haliç neighborhood, also known as the Golden Horn. Three hydrogen-fueled boats will serve the transport buses through the Golden Horn and will be launched in Haliç next year, according to information obtained by Radikal. The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBİTAK) plans to develop the hybrid boats.
ICHET also launched one of its global pilot projects on the Aegean island of Bozcaada in October. The pilot plant has photovoltaic panels of 20 kilowatt-hour and a 30-kilowatt-hour windmill to provide electricity to 20 houses on the island. The institution invested nearly $2 million in the pilot project.
The cost of hydrogen is expected to drop in the long run, according to market actors. A high purity hydrogen bottle of 800 grams currently costs nearly 120 Turkish Liras. It is expected that the price might decrease below $3 by the end of 2017.