Brazil is to clock up one million kilometres with hydrogen fuel cell buses operating in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo from next year.

In an experiment due to last four years, five buses will operate on routes in and around Sao Paulo from 2007, with a similar project to take part in Rio.

If successful, the country could introduce an emission-free fleet of between 100 and 200 hydrogen-powered buses.

The project is being backed by the United Nations Development Programme.

Brazil, the world's leading producer of sugarcane – a crop used to create biofuels – is committing to hydrogen power as leading carmakers compete to produce the first affordable vehicle powered by a fuel cell.

Hydrogen poses an attractive clean alternative to increasingly expensive fossil fuels, though technology harnessing the gas is more than a decade away from commercial viability, according to experts.

Techniques of producing, storing and supplying hydrogen are significant obstacles, as is the price.

Similar initiatives are currently underway in London, where fuel cell buses shuttle passengers along the RV1 route.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd