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Whistler’s mayor dreams about driving the Hydrogen Highway

RMOW takes a closer look at alternative fuel sources south of the border If Mayor Hugh O’Reilly has his way, there will be a mall in Whistler in the not too distant future.

RMOW takes a closer look at alternative fuel sources south of the border

If Mayor Hugh O’Reilly has his way, there will be a mall in Whistler in the not too distant future.

Unlike most malls however, there would be no T-shirts or jeans or books for sale here, rather a wide selection of high-tech fuels.

O’Reilly wants to build an "energy mall" – a place where you can buy all the traditional fuels like diesel, gasoline and propane, along with a host of clean alternative energy sources like hydrogen, natural gas and hythane (a hydrogen blend).

Whistler’s energy mall would be an important pit stop on the so-called Hydrogen Highway, a proposed roadway with alternative fuelling stations stretching from Whistler through Vancouver and to the U.S. border.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles and Palm Desert in California, O’Reilly and two members of municipal staff saw these energy malls in action, and what they learned inspired them for the future of the Hydrogen Highway in the Sea to Sky corridor.

"We’re this little community of 10,000 (people) that really has no place, we’re not significant," said O’Reilly after his trip.

"What we do offer is all the work we’ve done on our values, our commitment to the TNS (The Natural Step) and our stated commitment to sustainability, which is very attractive to people who want to initiate a new technology or program. You put that into a world class resort, into a community that’s hosting the Olympics, that’s committed to hydrogen, and all of a sudden you’ve got a lot of branding that’s very attractive to people."

What O’Reilly sees is a window of tremendous opportunity for the private sector to showcase their products right here in this small, environmentally committed community.

The whirlwind trip to California began in LA with a tour through the Los Angeles Regional Transit Authority and another transit authority in the suburbs of the city.

Those transit authorities operate more than 2,000 buses combined.

There, diesel is a fuel of the past. Each bus in these fleets runs on natural gas.

Canada by comparison has very few natural gas buses and none of those are in the B.C. Transit fleet.

Brian Barnett, general manager of engineering and public works with the municipality, who was also on the trip, remembers when the first generation of natural gas engines were introduced to the B.C. Transit fleet a couple of years ago.

There were definitely some problems he said.

But now those kinks have been ironed out and the second generation of natural gas engines used in LA are just as reliable as the old diesel engines.

Though the buses are initially more expensive than diesel engine buses, that capital investment evens itself out over the years with cheaper maintenance and operations costs, said Barnett.

For example, some buses in California have racked up about 500,000 miles on their engines and mechanics are looking to rebuild the engines for the very first time.

"If it had been a diesel engine they would have rebuilt it about three times by now," said Barnett.

"The reason is because diesel engines (have) got so much more emissions and carbon that they have operating problems. Natural gas burns much cleaner, has much less emissions."

The trip in LA was then followed by a few days in Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley.

Barnett described the area as seven communities laid out in the flat desert valley surrounded by a circular mountain range.

"It’s very similar (to our situation)," he said.

"Where the Sea to Sky has a confined air shed through the valley, they’ve got a confined air shed through this circle of mountains that encompasses this desert area."

There is one regional transit authority for that area, called SunLine Transit. It is the first American transit property to convert 100 per cent of its fleet from diesel to natural gas.

After that commitment, each of the seven towns decided to replace all their own fleet vehicles with natural gas engines, from their cars through to pick up trucks.

And then the private sector began to convert. The dump trucks and street sweepers were next on the list. Soon taxis and hotel shuttles were running on natural gas.

"Virtually all their heavy equipment now and their light duty vehicles are all natural gas and it’s amazing the difference," said Barnett.

"There great big trucks drive by and you’re sort of expecting this puff of smoke and noise and ... there’s virtually no emissions and (it’s) much quieter as well.

"That’s a significant step forward in terms of protecting their air shed."

Palm Desert made the first steps to natural gas about three years ago. Barnett did not know if the air quality had improved over that time but he knows there is a staggering difference between diesel and natural gas in terms of emissions.

Diesel’s harmful effects on health and air quality are one of the driving forces behind Barnett’s Integrated Energy, Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Management Plan that was recently received by council.

"That... plan that I presented to council talks about natural gas and identified that as being an important element in the Sea to Sky’s movement toward protecting our air shed," he said.

The plan tells us that if Whistler continues to follow a business as usual model, there will be a decrease in air quality. In fact, greenhouse gases are expected to increase by 44 per cent from 1990 to 2020 levels.

The plan calls for big changes to transportation because so many Greenhouse Gases come from the transportation sector.

As well, in the Olympic bid process Whistler committed to help build the Hydrogen Highway.

The Bid Book states:

"Proven low and zero emission technology including hybrid, natural gas, electric and fuel cell vehicles are planned for use during the Games. Hydrogen fuelling infrastructure necessary to support the use of fuel cell buses and vehicles is planned for Vancouver and Whistler. Installation of hydrogen fuelling infrastructure will create a lasting community legacy that will accelerate transition to a zero emission transit system."

Natural gas is similar to hydrogen in that it is very clean. The natural gas element is made up of four hydrogen molecules and one carbon molecule.

"I think natural gas has a well proven track record," said O’Reilly.

"There’s a lot of companies working on that... It’s not the (final) answer but it’s definitely a huge improvement from (an) emissions point of view."

Canada is well positioned to take a lead role in hydrogen technology. It has committed to reduce its Greenhouse Gases by six per cent below 1990 levels as part of the Kyoto Protocol.

O’Reilly said he is aware of some private initiatives that have the potential to bring a significant introduction of hydrogen in the corridor very quickly.

"My vision, and this is my personal vision, is that we will see something similar to what I saw in the desert," he said.

That vision has Whistler positioned as a cutting-edge place where buses, the municipal fleet, taxis and the Whistler-Blackcomb fleet, to name a few, would all switch to alternative fuel.

"I’m so fascinated by it," said O’Reilly.

"I’ve spent the last two or three years just as a personal project to understand more about what’s going on. So it was just great for me to see... and ask the political questions."

What the mayor realized is that if Whistler is to copy the initiatives in Palm Desert it would be crucial to have the political will to do it.

"In some places there’s actually momentum to make sure it fails because we know diesel, diesel works," he said.

"(Switching to alternative fuels) has to be politically supported."

In the meantime Barnett is developing a business plan for a pilot project for natural gas vehicles so that Whistler can experiment with using a different fuel in a pilot program.

"What I could envision is having a supplier provide us a portable fuel station... and maybe leasing three of four vehicles that we would normally lease over the summer period," he said.

"The technology is proven, it’s available. It’s really just a community decision.… We replace vehicles every few years anyway so it’s just a matter (of), do you replace it with the old technology or do you try to upgrade it to a new technology."

The community has talked about putting a new gas station in Whistler north of the village. Rather than a regular gas station, O’Reilly wants to put in an energy mall where one day even private cars will fuel up with alternative clean burning fuel.

"It’s inevitable! It’s coming our way."