Singapore's first eco-friendly bus is completed and will transport athletes and officials around the Youth Olympics Village located at the Yunnan Garden Campus of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in August. The inaugural Youth Olympics Games will be held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010. The hybrid fuel cell-battery bus is a joint research project by NTU and China's Tsinghua University (THU) and marks another major step forward in NTU's sustainability research and development.
At the completion ceremony in Beijing this morning together with Prof Gu Binglin, the President of Tsinghua University, NTU's President, Prof Su Guaning said: "This fuel cell bus project is an excellent symbol of the friendship between NTU and Tsinghua University and our respect and care for the environment. Sustainability research is a key thrust for NTU.
"There is an urgent need globally to find new solutions in sustainability and energy research and as responsible global citizens, we all have a part to play. By combining our strengths, we can make greater progress and headway, as evidenced by the speed at which this joint project was accomplished."
A team of engineers and researchers from both universities has been developing the hybrid fuel cell-battery bus in China since last November. The bus uses a hybrid fuel cell and battery system which allows it to generate and store energy on board. The fuel cell acts as an "energy converter" that transforms hydrogen and oxygen – chemical energy sources – into electricity, which powers the bus.
Unlike conventional buses that run on diesel fuel, it has zero carbon emission and only clean water and heat are released.
The bus, completed in just seven months, has been tested in Suzhou where it was built and will be shipped over to Singapore in June 2010. It will undergo test runs in Singapore and be fine-tuned, in preparation of its maiden run during the Youth Olympic Games.
This project is supported by Singapore's Land Transport Authority as well as Singapore bus company SBS Transit in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and develop a more energy-efficient model of public transportation for the future.
New NTU alumni association in Tianjin
Further deepening its relations with NTU alumni in China, a new alumni chapter was launched in Tianjin today. The Tianjin NTU Alumni Association will be headed by Mr Zhang Weili, President of Nankai University Yungong Group, who had previously attended the Executive MBA programme at the Nanyang Business School. The school is the only Singapore business school placed in the top 25 of the Financial Times Global MBA 2009 rankings.
NTU has about 15,000-strong alumni fraternity in China. The Tianjin NTU Alumni Association is the latest of the 16 in China, and 22 internationally.
"Great changes have taken place in Tianjin, the biggest coastal city in northern China to open up in the last 30 years. Through our connections in Tianjin, we hope to explore and open up even more opportunities for NTU to grow within China," said Prof Su.
To mark the launch of the alumni association, a gala dinner was held at Hotel Nikko in Tianjin with Singapore's Ambassador to China, BG Chin Siat Yoon, as the Guest-of-Honour.