Brazil Launches First Fuel Cell Bus in Latin America

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

If you travel by bus in Sao Paulo, Brazil these days your vehicle may be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The city's urban transportation system recently launched the first of up to five hydrogen buses. The hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water.

The bus uses a hybrid system that combines the hydrogen fuel cells with high power batteries. It can be driven three hundred kilometers on the hydrogen cell and an additional fifty kilometers on its batteries.

The bus carries passengers in communities around Sao Paulo. The United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and other private, public and international groups supported the project.

Project official Carlos Zundt says the bus is the first of its kind in Latin America. Mister Zundt says the vehicle releases only water vapor and is "totally clean." Traditional buses that run on diesel fuel release harmful carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Most buses around the world run on diesel fuel. Mister Zundt says diesel vehicles are the main cause of air pollution in Sao Paulo.

The cost of the bus has not been announced. Hydrogen fuel cell buses cost more than traditional buses. But Mister Zundt says reducing air pollution and acid rain will reduce respiratory illnesses for people in the city. In addition, the new bus is very quiet and does not produce noise pollution. Mister Zundt says a hydrogen bus will last an average of twenty years, while a diesel bus can be used for five to eight years.

Sao Paulo has almost twenty million people. Almost half of them ride buses every day. Brazil has a large, modern and competitive bus industry. It is one of the top producers in the world. The project hopes to export hydrogen fuel cell buses in the future.

A Brazilian report says that Brazil is one of five countries that have developed such buses. The others are the United States, China, Germany and Japan.

But not everyone sees the hydrogen fuel cell bus as the hope of the future. Critics note the high cost of producing hydrogen. And they say other kinds of energy choices can provide power for buses.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

这里是VOA特别英语发展报道。

如果最近你在巴西圣保罗乘公交车出行，你会发现车辆由氢燃料电池提供动力。圣保罗城市公交系统最近推出了首批大约500辆氢燃料公交车。电池中的氢与氧气发生反应，产生电和水。

这款公交车采用混合系统，由氢燃料电池与高能量电池相结合。氢燃料电池提供的能量可以供车辆行驶300千米，而本身的电池可以另外行驶50千米。

这些公交车在圣保罗各社区之间载客。联合国发展项目，世界银行和其他私立，公立以及国际组织支持该项目。

该项目官员Carlos Zundt称，这款公交车是拉美首款类似汽车。Carlos Zundt表示，这种汽车只会释放水蒸汽，是“完全清洁的”。传统的汽车以柴油为燃料，释放有害的二氧化碳和其他污染物。世界大部分地区的公交车都以柴油为燃料。Zundt说，柴油机车是圣保罗空气污染的主要原因。

这种公交车的具体成本并没有公布。氢燃料电池汽车的成本高于传统公交车。但是，Zundt表示，减少空气污染和酸雨可以降低城市人群患呼吸系统疾病的几率。此外，这种新型公交车非常安静，不会产生噪声污染。Zundt表示，氢燃料公交车平均可以行驶20年，而柴油机车仅可以使用5到8年。

圣保罗大约有2,000万人口，几乎一半的人口每天都要乘坐公交车。巴西拥有非常庞大，现代和有竞争力的公交车行业，是世界上公交车生产量最大的国家之一。该项目希望将来能够实现氢燃料电池公交车的出口。

巴西一份报道称，巴西是世界上研发出此类公交车的五个国家之一。其他国家分别是美国，中国，德国和日本。

但是并非所有人都认为氢燃料电池公交车是未来的希望。批评家指出生产氢的成本非常高昂。他们说，可以选择其他种类的能源可以为公交车提供动力。