BMW CleanEnergy: Tomorrow's solution. Today.

World's only liquid hydrogen-powered cars - most advanced engine
technology in the world - come to Singapore Singapore - Singaporeans
will get to see and understand more about sustainable mobility when
five liquid hydrogen-powered cars arrive here next month. During the
two-and-a-half weeks (6-23 March, 2008) that the BMW CleanEnergy
Hydrogen 7 Series cars - along with a mobile refuelling station - are
here, students, government leaders and private sector chiefs will be
among those invited to view the vehicles, along with members of the
public. Experts from the BMW Group will be on hand to explain the
workings of the CleanEnergy technology to visitors as well as
university students during the event, which is supported by the
National Environment Agency and the Singapore Environment Council.
Said the National Environment Agency's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lee
Yuen Hee, "Our strategy to ensure that Singapore's ambient air
quality remains good goes beyond traditional control measures of fuel
quality, emission standards, and enforcement. We are constantly
looking out for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies
that contribute to environmentally sustainable transportation. BMW's
CleanEnergy programme is one such initiative that could potentially
contribute towards this objective." For all practical purposes,
the BMW Hydrogen 7 Series emits nothing but vapour while running in the
hydrogen mode. Hence, the car makes a very significant contribution to
the drastic reduction of emissions in individual transport, helping in
particular to reduce CO2 emissions to a minimum. Four of these
vehicles will provide chauffeured rides for key VIPs and media., while
the fifth will be presented in a specially built, glass-and-steel
pavilion that will go up at the corner of Beach and Ophir Roads from
March 6 till 23, 2008. BMW CleanEnergy is the name that describes the
company's pioneering work in research and development of hydrogen
combustion technology, said the Managing Director of BMW Asia, Mr.
Roland Krueger. "BMW CleanEnergy is tomorrow's solution,
available today. While other forms of alternative drive concepts such
as hybrid drive, electric drive and natural gas drive have been explored
and researched, we believe that hydrogen combustion is ultimately the
best choice. "The focus in this process has not only been on
engine technology as such, but also on the recovery, storage and
transfer of hydrogen into the car itself. The technology is nearly zero
emission, but still ensures the sheer driving pleasure that is the
hallmark of all BMW cars. We believe that BMW CleanEnergy opens the
door to sustainability in motoring. "We want to share this
technology with Singapore, because the country has a very clear vision
of the central importance of clean energy in the overall national
development plan. The BMW Group believes the technology that we have
developed is the future of responsible motoring. It is tomorrow's
solution for the transportation challenges that we face today and this
is also something that we believe will resonate with Singapore's
efforts at finding and developing strategies for continued sustainable
growth and development . And thanks to the National Environment Agency
and the Singapore Environment Council as well as the Urban
Redevelopment Authority and many other agencies, we are able to share
this technology here." Given the state-of-the-art engineering
inherent in the technology to be showcased here, the BMW CleanEnergy
pavilion will host visits by engineering students from the National
University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. Experts
from the BMW Group will also speak at NUS' Energy Studies Institute as
well as at NTU. Schools and junior colleges have not been forgotten -
their students will be invited to participate in a special BMW
CleanEnergy Schools Challenge that is being organised by Mediacorp's
TV12 in conjunction with BMW Asia. The competition kicks off on March
6. The BMW CleanEnergy pavilion is also open to the public and its
two-and-a-half week run falls within the purview of the Singapore
Environment Council's Green Transport Campaign, which features as one
of the highlights, a Clean Energy Roundtable. Said the SEC's Executive
Director, Mr Howard Shaw, "The Singapore Environment Council
endorses the BMW CleanEnergy event as it is in line with the on-going
Green Transport Campaign. We support all efforts to promote cleaner
and greener transport nationwide as well as education and awareness
efforts towards this end." And in participating in the SEC's Clean
Energy Roundtable, added Mr Krueger, "The BMW Group is
consistently promoting the introduction of hydrogen as a source of
energy, even as it establishes partnerships with other like-minded
companies in developing components and technologies, and educating both
decision-makers and the industry about the available technologies - all
in an effort to bring about both a mindset and infrastructural change
to sustainable alternative energy." In developing the technical
components required for using hydrogen, the BMW Group cooperates
closely with specialized suppliers and partners in development. In
addition, the BMW Group is a founding member of the Transport Energy
Strategy (TES) and belongs to the Berlin Clean Energy Partnership (CEP)
comprising other car makers, energy supply companies, and public
transport services. CEP is part of Germany's national strategy of
sustainability, supported and promoted by the German Government.