NZ firm building bus powered by renewable fuel

Ashburton coachbuilding company Designline is building a prototype commuter bus powered by a chemical fuel cell using reusable, renewable materials.

The space-technology prototype is expected to be running early next year, according to the company’s managing director, John Turton.

An American company, Alchemy Enterprises Ltd, is producing the magnesium-based fuel cell which will power the electric bus.

Alchemy has developed its fuel cell with the Nasa space agency and its Jet Propulsion Labs and Cal Tech in Pasadena, California, and Cal Tech is expected to take an 8 per cent stake in the company in return.

Alchemy’s technology uses magnesium — one of the most common minerals on earth — as its catalyst material for a chemical reaction that generates electricity. Metal-air fuel cells (MAFC) generate use metal and oxygen to generate electricity, rather than combing hydrogen and oxygen as in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell.

The Alchemy fuel cell pumps an electrolytic liquid consisting of magnesium and salt water into the power cell, and when exposed to air, it generates electricity. When the electrolytic liquid is exhausted, it is pumped out of the power cell into a storage tank, and “recharged” to be pumped back into another fuel cell.

Alchemy chief executive Jonathan Read said in a statement that the company’s fuel cell would provide a significant alternative to some other hydrogen-based systems.

“Our system provides power on demand — hydrogen on demand — and is a model for sustainable affordable long-term power systems,” he said.

New Zealand Herald