BURBANK WILL ORDER HYDROGEN FUELED CARS CITY FLEET PROGRAM STARTS IN SIX MONTHS.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

BURBANK - Determined to improve Burbank's air quality, city officials are looking to a pilot program to create Southern California's first fleet of cars powered by hydrogen fuel.

Using a grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Burbank, Santa Monica and three other cities will each equip five municipal cars with engines that use hydrogen fuel, which burns cleaner than gasoline but costs significantly more.

``We have to take this risk to make progress,'' Burbank Councilman Jef Vander Borght said last week.

AQMD officials expect the pilot program, set to start in six months, to pave the way for the use of hydrogen-fueled vehicles by cities and public agencies throughout Southern California.

``That would be a quantum leap toward cleaner air,'' said Chung Liu, deputy executive officer for advanced technology with the AQMD.

The AQMD will use funds from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a fueling station in each city and retrofit the vehicles to burn hydrogen fuel. The city will pay for vehicles and the hydrogen fuel itself, which will cost $3 to $5 a gallon, much more than a gallon of regular gasoline which on Friday averaged $1.72.

``That seems like a lot of money, but it's worth it, if it ultimately makes the air cleaner,'' Vander Borght said.

The project, which also includes Santa Ana, Riverside and Ontario, is expected to add about $11,000 to Burbank's fuel bill over the five-year term of the pilot program.

This summer was Southern California's smoggiest in five years, adding to the need to seek innovative ways to reduce air pollution, Vander Borght said.

``This isn't optional,'' Vander Borght said. ``We must improve our air quality.''

The program stems from President George W. Bush's call in 2002 for $1.2 billion to be spent on research into hydrogen fuel and hydrogen fuel cells in an effort to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and to improve the environment.

While gasoline emissions add to smog and make Los Angeles' already dirty air worse, spent hydrogen fuel produces clean water, officials said.

Burbank code enforcement officers and building inspectors will use the hydrogen-fueled vehicles, which will replace city vehicles due to be scrapped anyway, said Burbank Administrative Analyst Marisa Garcia.

``We want these vehicles to be heavily used and really test the technology,'' Garcia said.

The hydrogen-fueled cars should have a life span similar to that of gasoline-powered cars, according to Garcia.

Burbank's fueling station - expected to cost $500,000 - is slated to be built adjacent to the water reclamation plant, on land now used as a garden, Garcia said.

``The aim of the demonstration project is to find out what works and what doesn't, which will promote future investment in the technology,'' Garcia said. ``We're very optimistic.''

Heather MacDonald, [phone]

heather.macdonald(at)dailynews.com