It is not credible that Intercity Transit would choose hydrogen fuel cell buses over battery-electric buses.
First and foremost, hydrogen is absolutely NOT carbon-free. Over 99% of the hydrogen sold in the US is derived from steam reformation of natural gas, releasing a LOT of CO2 into the atmosphere in the process. Yes, it is possible to produce hydrogen through electrolysis of water, but that costs four times as much, and unless the electricity is carbon-free, it is also a high-carbon product.
Furthermore, hydrogen fuel cell buses are very inefficient. First, the process of turning methane (or water) into hydrogen is very energy-intensive, with less than 50% of the energy used in the process available in the form of hydrogen. Then the fuel cells in the vehicles are only about 50% efficient turning that hydrogen back into electricity. Only about 25% of the original energy does useful work. By contrast, battery electric buses are about 80% efficient turning the input electricity into motive power for the buses.
There are thousands of battery electric buses operating in the US, and hundreds of thousands operating worldwide, including over 16,000 in the city of Shenzhen, China alone. There are only a few hundred hydrogen fuel cell buses. Transit agencies recognize that they are too expensive and too inefficient. And environmentalists know that they are simply another way of using fossil fuels to power buses under a dishonest guise of environmental responsibility.
Intercity Transit should:
a) Buy battery electric buses; and
b) Secure a carbon-free supply of electricity, either through PSE's Green Power program, or from the open market, paying PSE to deliver that power to Olympia. Both of these options are cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable than the hydrogen fuel cell option.
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