VANOC, the organizing committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games, has placed a high priority on sustainability to make these the ‘greenest Olympic Games ever.’ Efforts to reduce the 2010 Games’ carbon footprint ranges from heating the Athletes’ Village with waste heat from municipal wastewater to using the heat produced by an ice rink’s refrigeration plant to heat an aquatics pool.

Vancouver is home to fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems and also the northern terminus of the Hydrogen Highway running up North America’s West Coast. Thus, the games are also being used as a venue to demonstrate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and technology.

A fleet of 20 fuel cell buses is being operated by BC Transit in Whistler, the site of many Olympic events. These fuel cell buses are built by New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg and operate on fuel cells provided by Ballard Power Systems, with hydrogen storage provided by Dynetek Industries in Calgary. The hybrid drive system came from ISE Corp. in San Diego, California. Each low floor bus can carry 60 people and has a top speed of about 55 mph. The buses are twice as efficient as diesel powered counterparts and have zero tailpipe emissions.

B.C. Transit’s new $89.5 million Whistler Transit Centre offers….the world’s largest hydrogen refueling station. The station is a joint venture involving the Canadian and British Columbia governments, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and the Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association. A fleet of eight Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell SUVs are transporting VANOC officials, media, athletes, government representatives and others at the games. These Equinox models were built by General Motors Canada.

GM Canada is also providing an extensive fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles including several thousand fuel efficient Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac sedans, passenger vans, and SUVs. Over 30 percent of these have advanced green technologies including hybrid, flex fuel, and active fuel management systems. The GM fleet includes two Chevrolet Volts.