Halifax launching dual-fuel hydrogen bus project this year

Halifax will convert four city buses to be powered by hydrogen and diesel for a pilot project aimed at finding out whether the technology could be a good fit to expand into the fleet.

Regional council approved the funding for the hydrogen-diesel demonstration on Tuesday. The city is spending about $122,500 with $367,500 coming from the province's Clean Fuels Fund.

Cities across Canada have started experimenting with hydrogen for their vehicles and buses, but Halifax staff said the dual-fuel system is much cheaper than pure hydrogen fuel cell buses that can each cost about $2 million.

Norman Hendry, fleet director of Halifax Transit, said testing has found hydrogen-diesel buses could bring 69 to 74 per cent reductions in carbon emissions, and a 70 per cent decrease in diesel use.

He said the dual-fuel option is cheaper because it simply injects hydrogen into the diesel itself, with no changes to the bus engine.

"So this is like a hybrid. Is it perfection, no — but we shouldn't let … perfection get in the way of being good," Hendry said during an audit and finance committee meeting last Wednesday. 

Hydrogen pilot following electric bus investment

A staff report said the pilot could cut out the consumption of about 160 litres of diesel fuel daily, which adds up to 58,400 litres in a year from just four buses.

The move comes just after Halifax officially launched 60 electric buses and finished upgrading the Ragged Lake bus depot to handle the new vehicles. That $112-million project was supported by all three levels of government.

"Why would we go and experiment with another model?" Coun. Kathryn Morse asked during last Wednesday's meeting.

Halifax aims to add a total of 200 zero-emission buses to the 360-bus fleet by 2028, but staff said they might not all be electric. Hendry said electric buses can't do everything a traditional diesel bus needs to do, because there are limits to their range and how long they can run.

"We need to look at some other means to satisfy the demands that's being placed on transit," he said.

The added benefit of a dual-fuel system is that the engine runs "so clean" that certain filters don't need to be changed, Hendry said, and the life of the engine itself is extended.

Hendry said the municipality will decide through the pilot program whether to produce its own hydrogen or have it shipped in. Either way, he said the bus depots don't need to be upgraded, although Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency is advising on policies for safe handling of hydrogen.

Halifax also spent $73,000 in 2023 on a study about incorporating 40 to 60 hydrogen fuel cell buses into the fleet, but it's unclear what the results of that project have been. It was not mentioned in the report on the dual-fuel project.

The PC government aims to develop a green hydrogen industry in Nova Scotia, and the Halifax bus pilot is one of seven hydrogen projects funded this week for a total of $3 million.

The Halifax staff report said insights from the dual-fuel bus project will be shared with private industry and community groups, and will be a showcase for other transit operators in Nova Scotia.

The project will also be a "living laboratory" that can inform the provincial Link Nova Scotia transportation agency and the regional transportation plan. That plan addresses Halifax and communities surrounding the capital area, but the provincial government has not yet released it.