Air Products' Hydrogen Technology Fueling AC Transit's Next Generation Bus Fleet

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) is using its diverse portfolio of hydrogen fueling technologies to fill five new hydrogen fuel cell powered buses that transport riders daily on the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) bus system in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.  AC Transit looked to Air Products for solutions to provide hydrogen and infrastructure technology to get the newest generation of zero emission buses on the road quickly.  AC Transit expects to increase its hydrogen fuel cell bus fleet to 12; the largest single site deployment of hydrogen fuel cell buses in the United States.

"AC Transit should be very proud of its growing hydrogen bus fleet and being a leader in the U.S. in the conversion to this zero emission mode of mass transit transportation.  We're pleased to be fueling their buses and bringing several of our patented fueling technologies together to support this large scale fueling application," said Nick Mittica, commercial manager - Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products.  "At this site, we've been able to show our broad suite of unique hydrogen delivery technologies that no one else in the world has to offer.  These capabilities give us a competitive advantage when considering varied hydrogen sources as well as the methods of hydrogen delivery."  Mittica added that the Air Products technologies in place at AC Transit were relatively easy to permit and presented no large infrastructure issues.

"Air Products has clearly demonstrated to us and our industry that the technology and know-how exists to effectively fuel heavy-duty transit buses on a large scale.  We've been impressed at how quickly the Air Products team stepped up to support our fueling needs by installing a 500 kg mobile fueling station within days," noted Jaimie Levin, AC Transit's director of Alternative Fuels Policy and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Program manager.

Air Products has two self-contained mobile fuelers and additional high-pressure storage capacity, all at approximately 350 bar (5,000 psi), at AC Transit's Oakland, Calif. operating division.  The station employs a new hydrogen delivery concept capable of dispensing either liquid or gaseous hydrogen, at very high pressure, depending on a specific customer's need.  

For the complete news release and photos, visit www.airproducts.com/PressRoom/CompanyNews/Archived/2010/21Dec2010.htm.

***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

SOURCE Air Products