B.C.’s Eco-Bus Debacle

[Anonymous]

Another example of feel-good environmentalism that harms average workers, rewards a few crony capitalists and does nothing to improve air quality. However, politicians get a nice photo-op and they stay off big money ENGO's naughty list.

In 2008, then-B.C. premier Gordon Campbell boasted that British Columbia would soon be the only jurisdiction in the world with a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses. As it turns out, there's a reason why no one else wanted them.



As Brian Hutchinson reports in Thursday's National Post, the $89-million pilot project to deliver a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses to the mountain town of Whistler, B.C., may soon be coming to an end, as governments become weary of the high costs, and even the local transit unions grow tired of operating vehicles that require constant maintenance.



The buses run on fuel cells, which create a chemical reaction that turns hydrogen into energy and emits water instead of polluting exhaust. The green buses were seen as a way of helping the province meet its emissions-reduction targets, and it was hoped it would be part of a "hydrogen highway," which would have seen hydrogen-fuelling stations along the West Coast, from California to British Columbia.



This is consistent with the view held by environmentalists that mass transit is always better for the environment than private cars. In fact, as the Post's Kevin Libin discovered in 2009, this is largely a myth, as the average city bus requires about 20% more energy per passenger than a car.



"If the goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution and gas consumption, and maximize the environmental impact of sustainability spending, we may be better off without publicly funding transit at all," wrote Mr. Libin. And when it comes to hydrogen buses, Mr. Libin was downright prescient, arguing that Whistler's pilot project "will amount to a four-year, $90-million showpiece of technology not even remotely realistic for actual, financially strapped public transit systems."



Four years later, BC Transit, the Crown corporation that operates public transit systems in much of the province, now says it cannot afford to continue paying its $1.8-million annual bill to cover the incremental costs of running the fleet. The hydrogen-powered buses cost about three times more to operate than the conventional vehicles they replaced — $3.28 per kilometre, compared to 65¢/km for diesel buses, according to provincial government documents.



The hydrogen vehicles are also ill-suited to Canada's northern climate. They break down more often than conventional vehicles and sometimes fail to start in freezing temperatures. BC Transit estimates the hydrogen vehicles require maintenance every 3,000 kilometres, while its diesel buses need to be serviced every 5,000 kilometres.



Some might say that the extra costs are worth paying to produce a cleaner, less carbon-intensive ride. They should think again: B.C. doesn't produce the hydrogen needed to power the vehicles, so it is hauled in from Quebec every 10 days using — you guessed it — diesel-burning trucks.



What this amounts to is another well-intentioned, but not well thought-out, plan to save the environment. In fact, it represents everything that is wrong about government bureaucrats trying to pick winners and losers in the marketplace.



The environmental lobby insists that green technologies will not only make for a healthier planet, but will create jobs and bolster the economy, as well. Al Gore famously said: "I believe that the transition to a green economy is good for our economy and good for all of us, and I have invested in it." The problem is that the rest of us are forced to invest in it through our tax dollars. This process ends up distorting the marketplace by subsidizing technologies that are backed by better lobbying efforts, while starving potentially game-changing technologies of funds, as investors look at which companies are getting more public money, rather that who is offering the best product.



Cars, for example, have made huge gains in energy efficiency over the past couple decades — partially because of new emissions standards, but also because consumers are demanding greener vehicles to protect the environment and alleviate the burden of high gas prices. Government-subsidized green-energy technologies such as solar and wind, on the other hand, have cost taxpayers the world over huge sums of money, while yielding relatively little power.



The desire to help the environment is a noble one, and not limited to governments. But top-down directives from bureaucrats have been shown, again and again, to add costs without truly addressing the issue at hand. B.C.'s fleet of hydrogen-powered lemons are the latest monument to this enduring truth.

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[Anonymous]

This is the kind of ideological madness that has made electricity so expensive for Ontarians.

[Herman]

Speaking of eco bus bullshit. A driverless electric shuttle bus in Florida got into a minor crash this week, just two days after the service began running.