Take an opportunity to drive the car of the future as the UT Chattanooga Center for Energy, Transportation, and the Environment presents the Hydrogen Road Tour 2008 on Monday, August 18, from 10 a.m.-12 noon at the First Tennessee Pavilion. Congressman Zach Wamp and U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Administrator Cheryl L. McQueary will be featured speakers in a program beginning at 10:15 a.m.
The Hydrogen Road Tour stop in Chattanooga will feature eight vehicles that are travelling across the U.S. from Portland, Maine to Santa Monica, California. The Chattanooga event will provide a hands-on experience in driving the hydrogen vehicles. In addition to the Ride and Drive Event, there will be additional information provided about the UT Chattanooga Center for Energy, Transportation, and the Environment as well as displays by other hydrogen and fuel cell technology/industry representatives.
“We are honored that Chattanooga has been selected as a stop in this hydrogen tour. We believe that it acknowledges both the importance of Volkswagen’s decision to locate in Chattanooga and the significance of the alternative fuel research being conducted by the faculty and students at UT Chattanooga,” said Dr. Ron Bailey, Guerry Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Energy, Transportation, and the Environment at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The UT Chattanooga Center for Energy, Transportation, and the Environment (CETE) is a program of applied research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to develop and deploy technologies that utilize clean and secure sources of energy. CETE resides within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, which strives to serve and support the people, businesses, and industries of the greater Chattanooga metropolitan area.
“The work of the Center in the use of hydrogen as a fuel for transportation will promote our nation’s energy independence while reducing exhaust emissions and brining greater energy efficiency to the transportation industry. These objectives are critical goals for our country, and we are very pleased to have the support of the Federal Transit Administration for our efforts to re-commission the TVA Test Track, deploy a hydrogen fueled hybrid shuttle bus for our campus and establish the first hydrogen fueling station in Chattanooga,” Bailey said.
Significant progress has been made toward hydrogen vehicle technology readiness through partners in government, industry and academic institutions. Locally, CETE is partnering with the Federal Transit Administration on three cooperative agreements:
- Under the first agreement, the TVA Electric Vehicle Test Facility originally built to develop electric vehicles during an earlier energy crisis will be leased to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for the next 50 years to be used to develop and deploy technologies that utilize clean and secure sources of energy.
- Secondly, an agreement with the FTA will establish a critical hydrogen infrastructure in this region with the building of two new hydrogen fueling stations, one in Chattanooga on the UTC campus and the other in Knoxville on the UTK campus.
- A third agreement with the FTA, The Center for Energy and the Environment at UTC, in partnership with CARTA will develop and deploy a new hydrogen powered hybrid shuttle bus for the UTC Campus.
At the SimCenter: National Center for Computational Engineering, $3.5 million has been earmarked to house and test a powerful new hydrogen fuel cell that will provide the energy needs of a 30,000 square foot building or supermarket. In partnership with Bloom Energy (formerly Ion America), the SimCenter has housed and tested a 5-killowat fuel cell that could supply the energy needs of a 5,000 square fool home, including heating, cooling, and providing hydrogen to fuel an automobile. No connection to an electricity grid is required.
“The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Engineering is proud to be able to partner with the U.S. Department of Transportation to bring the hydrogen tour to Chattanooga. The effort to heighten the public’s awareness of the significant progress made in hydrogen-fueled vehicles is significant as we work to address our dependency on petroleum. The decision to include Chattanooga in this campaign showcases the research achievements of our faculty and students and helps focus attention on the outstanding educational program we offer,” said Dr. Will Sutton, Dean of the College of Engineering at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Volkswagen is participating in the Hydrogen Road Tour with its Hydrogen Fuel Cell concept vehicle, the HyMotion Tiguan. Officials at Volkswagen say they are particularly pleased that the tour will stop in Chattanooga, home of its newly announced U.S. production facility.
