It's All On-Line In Manchester (3)

 Hydrogen's Hidden Horrors

We are all called upon to rejoice in the zero emissions double deck buses in Aberdeen, powered by hydrogen, the most prolific material in the universe. So before returning to Manchester, just a bit about the carbon footprint of hydrogen.

Although there is, indeed, many an oodle of hydrogen in the universe, getting it into a tank to fill the buses is a complex process. The current method is "Steam Methane Reforming" or SMR.

The extracts below come from a technical article on the process and fbb has tried to choose bits that can be understood by the average elderly bus blogger.

The carbon footprint of hydrogen production via SMR can be broken down into two parts.

Firstly, 100% of the carbon in the incoming methane is ultimately converted to CO2 (Carbon Dioxide - i.e. the nasty stuff). In the process of producing one molecule of CO2, four molecules of hydrogen (H2) are produced, with the steam contributing the additional hydrogen.

Thus, per 1 million standard cubic feet (SCF) of hydrogen produced from methane, 250,000 SCF of CO2 will be produced. There are 19,253 SCF of carbon dioxide in one metric ton, so 1 million SCF of hydrogen will produce 13 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The second part is the carbon footprint associated with the individual process units. Steam must be generated, the reactor must be heated, etc. But steam is also created when the SMR exit gas is cooled, so that helps offset the carbon burden.

Additional steps in the process create a further 6.3 metric tons of carbon.

Adding this to the carbon dioxide produced from the natural gas reactions, the total becomes 19.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide produced per million SCF of hydrogen. However, researchers noted that this is the theoretical minimum. Due to heat losses and inefficiencies, the actual number in practice in a large hydrogen plant is 21.9 metric tons.

This converts to 9.3 kilograms (kg) of CO2 produced per kg of hydrogen production. One kilogram of hydrogen is the energy equivalent of one gallon of fossil fuel, which produces 9.1 kg of CO2 when combusted.

In fbb's pea-brain terms this all means that a hydrogen powered bus is LESS "GREEN" than a diesel powered bus.

Its key advantage, however, is that its pollutants are not doing their stuff on the streets of Aberdeen but somewhere else. But somewhere else is being polluted!

Of course, it is not quite as simple as the above. There are other, less horrid, methods of hydrogen production but they are, currently, uneconomic.

Back to TfGM's Well Hidden Stuff

That inviting word "More" needs to be explored. And there, amongst a load of useless stuff, we have ...

... and a journey planner, perhaps.

"Maps" links us to the collection of Manchester area network maps. You need some knowledge of the city to find which one you want )there is no index) but fbb guessed (correctly!) that he wanted ...

... and there was our route 41.

Even the mysterious Bank House gets a mention, as does Chapel Lane.

Then there is the Manchester journey planner.

Only there isn't. We are redirected to Traveline which should, in theory, give the same answers.

Armed with our hard-won knowledge that there is a through bus from Bank House Chapel Lane, we can now use the journey planner to work out the plan for the best journey to get to MRI (Manchester Royal Infirmary) in time for our theoretical appointment.

Of course it is much easier using a proper timetable, but that, too, is so well hidden in the site which is  ...

... that we might have missed it.

For a 1400 appointment we will have to arrive at 1334, which means getting on the 41 on Chapel Lane ...

... at 1229. We can confirm this with the Traveliner journey planner.

Only there is no Bank House Chapel Lane! Of course we all know that we are looking for a departure from ...

... "Castlemere Road (nr) on Chapel Lane, Ba ..."

Remember, the timetable tells that us our 41 bus is at 1229.

But Traveline doesn't. There is no mention of the 1229 whatsoever.

Mostly, the journeys involve a fairly lengthy walk to neighbouring roads. Some journeys even invite you to travel into Manchester and CHANGE to a service 41!

The through journeys, the ones a normal passenger would choose to take, simply do not appear.

Yet again, Traveline is useless.

No doubt comment writers will opine that fbb is just choosing a "difficult" journey; or that the old man has been deliberately dense for journalistic effect (perish the thought!!!), or even that the old man is just dense.

What the TfGM site SHOULD provide is quick one click access to the information most people will want, namely

1 The timetable

2 A map of the network

3. A map of the route

4. A journey planner that plans journeys

These four should be accessible loud and clear from the "home page".  All the other stuff can be relegated to the "inside pages" and much of it could be removed completely.

Then TfGM might be making a real start on ...

The bus operator, Go North West, is a little batter. On the home page there is loads of irrelevant stuff ...

... but there is a link to a network map. Hooray!

Along the top of the home page we can click for timetables and a journey planner. Hooray!

The "timetable" is a real timetable and not a departure list. Hooray!

And, tada, the journey planned finds the through buses. Hooray!

Why it gives a different result from Traveline is a mystery which fbb cannot solve.

Of course, this improvement is only of any use if you know in advance that Go North west runs the 41.

But, be bold, be brave and battle through - because ...

IT'S ALL ON LINE

 Next Weekend Variety bog : Sunday 31st January