# Denver range extended electric buses to use Capstone microturbines



## bjfreeman (Dec 7, 2011)

link broken here is on to Capstone
http://www.capstoneturbine.com/news/story.asp?id=683


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

So let me see if I get this straight...

They are going to install an electric drive train and lithium-ion batteries in buses in hopes of creating a bus that is better for the environment. But, because it won't go far enough (and because the Li-Ion batteries take up so much weight and space) they will extend the range with a much more expensive and (compared to the diesel engine it replaces) inefficient microturbine, which has none of the air quality devices on it found on vehicle motors and thus spews far more noxious emissions into the air. The noise of said turbine is also likely to cause hearing damage. The net result will be a vehicle that costs at least twice as much, has exactly the same range, uses more fuel to go that range, and pollutes more.

Did I miss anything? And, is there any wonder why our municipal governments can't balance their budgets?


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## bjfreeman (Dec 7, 2011)

I have been dealing with capstone for HEV since early 2000.
The Capstone is a multifuel system, and you can have it run on just about anything that is combustible and fluid(gas).
The noise is less than that of a diesel exhuast. More of whine.
The pollutants are still there for carbon based fuels, however the CNG configuration is the cleanest.
the nice thing is the Buses can be retrofitted to CNG with out must change to the Capstone.
http://www.capstoneturbine.com/prodsol/solutions/hev.asp


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