AC Transit, ChevronTexaco to build hydrogen fuel station

The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) in Oakland, Calif., and ChevronTexaco Corp. signed an agreement Tuesday to build a hydrogen fuel station for a fleet of AC Transit buses that run on the natural gas. The project supports Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan for a hydrogen highway network in California. The station will also use excess hydrogen production to generate high quality electrical power from a stationary fuel cell. According to Donald Paul, ChevronTexaco's vice president and chief technology officer, the project is under development and scheduled to be completed by August 2005. The station, to be located at AC Transit's Seminary bus maintenance division in Oakland, Calif., will dispense as much as 150 kilograms of hydrogen per day. The hydrogen will fuel AC Transit's fleet of 40-foot Van Hool/UTC/ISE fuel cell buses and future fleets of light duty vehicles.