By Katie Tse
A new green bus lands on the streets of Hong Kong running through Kowloon City, Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po. Hong Kong’s first hydrogen fuelled double-decker bus ran on Route 20 on Sunday, following Hong Kong’s plan for zero-emission transportation.
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The bus plays a unique role in carbon reduction in its ability to exclusively emit water, greatly reducing carbon dioxide and pollutants into the atmosphere which traditional buses do. This will improve the overall air quality of the city and represent a significant leap in Hong Kong’s hydrogen infrastructure and transportation. The buses are fast to refuel taking as little as 10 minutes and can travel 400 kilometres making them critical for Hong Kong’s low-carbon transition.
Professor Gong Peng, the chair of global sustainability at the University of Hong Kong fully supports this transition.
“In developing a carbon-neutral society hydrogen is a clean energy if it is produced from renewable resources, if the entire transportation system adopts hydrogen we will have cleaner air on roads in the city,” he said.
Citybus plays an important role in supporting Hong Kong’s #MissionZero campaign which was introduced in April 2022. They believe that releasing zero-emission buses and encouraging the use of public transport will also encourage the discourse of pollution and sustainability in Hong Kong.
Adrian Yung, an environmental science student eager to see the rollout of the bus says, “This is a critical time for Hong Kong to tackle their carbon emissions. As a place with high demand for public transport, a hydrogen bus is a great step forward.”
In December 2023, Hong Kong’s air pollution levels were at an all-time high with 11 monitoring stations alerting to very high health risks. This has the ability to create long-term health effects for the people of the city.
The Environmental Protection Department identified that 49% of CO2 emissions came from the road transport sector highlighting the importance of tackling emissions on the ground.
Data Source: Environmental Protection Department (2021)
However, there are questions as to whether these buses will create a difference for Hong Kong’s zero-carbon future. Currently, only one hydrogen refuelling station is located at Citybus’ West Kowloon depot. This would require all buses to stem from this location. There are plans for more stations to be established on Hong Kong Island however they require 18 to 24 months to be built and connected, with some often taking longer.
A rider of the 20 bus route says, “The bus is much quieter than the usual diesel buses and it would be nice if there were these buses across all the routes but I think it will take a long time for all buses to be replaced. It already took 2 years from the initial decision to deploy hydrogen buses.”
Furthermore, there are challenges that rollout is facing through safety concerns and supply costs. Tina Lau, a 52-year-old security guard at the bus depot says, “Hydrogen has the potential to be extremely volatile, it would be concerning if accidents occurred and the bus crashed.”
Environmental science student Adrian Yung also says, “Hydrogen is highly flammable and requires careful handling and storage, I would be worried about the bus’s long-term maintenance in order to keep passengers safe.”
This was also a concern for the Hong Kong government as hydrogen is extremely flammable and if handled incorrectly, can explode spontaneously. This also means that the buses cannot drive through tunnels as the Dangerous Goods Ordinance forbids the production, storage and transport of any explosive, or flammable substances, limiting the routes of the bus.
Despite this, the hydrogen bus still remains a critical leap in Hong Kong’s #Missionzero. Soon, the bus will expand to routes 20A and 22M and Citybus is hoping to operate a full fleet by 2045.
Reported by Katie Tse
Edited by Jimin Park and Brendan Lai