Over a decade ago, Georgetown University made history when it rolled out the nation’s first hydrogen fuel-cell bus for Earth Week 1994.

“The prototype for the nation’s first fuel-cell bus arrived at Georgetown Sunday [April 17] to take part in the national Earth Week celebrations taking place on the National all,” an April 19, 1994 article in THE HOYA said.

The bus’ development was managed in part through the university, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Argonne National Laboratory.

Georgetown’s interest in the bus began in 1983 when the university was doing studies on fuel cells in mechanical generators within the Energy Department.

“When people called [the Department of Energy] to find out about fuel cells in transportation, they were steered toward Georgetown,” Victor Podbielski, then-director of the utilities division of facilities, said.

According to the article, the $5 million, 30-foot bus ran on fuel cells made of phosphoric acid which combined oxygen from the air and hydrogen to form electricity and water vapor.

The bus used a battery cell to provide more power for acceleration and climbing hills, as well as for storing energy recovered from braking.

Also, the bus reflected the type of thinking in facilities that was trying to get Georgetown more environmentally aware at the time, part of a “green trend” sweeping the campus, THE HOYA said.

The bus was first used for GUTS service in June 1994, making Georgetown among the first universities to incorporate fuel-cell technology in its bus fleet, after other universities in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas.

– HOYA Staff Writer Fred Lestina condensed this article from the April 19, 1994 edition of THE HOYA. HOYA HISTORY runs every Tuesday.