Page 6 - Commercial Vehicle Engineer - June 2021

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Hydrogen is set to play an important part in the future of transport, but for widespread adoption of hydrogen-powered vehicles to happen will require private sector finance, says Brian Foster.
uch is made of the electrification of the UK’s transport system. However, there is a quieter, but no
less significant revolution happening in another area of clean transport – hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. These vehicles have no waste product other than water vapour, are quick to refuel and have a range between refuelling of hundreds of miles – for a bus, typically 200-250 miles.
In a hydrogen fuel cell, the clean burning compressed gas is converted first to electricity and then powers the bus, train or even aircraft or ship engine. So the likely mainstream solution may be hybrid vehicles that can either take electric power from a direct source or generate it from hydrogen combustion.
While the exact balance between grid- based electric power and hydrogen-based electric power is yet to be determined, what is clear is that grid-powered and hydrogen- powered electric vehicles will rapidly replace fossil fuel engines. Electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts and therefore offer a cost-of-ownership advantage over time because of their massively reduced maintenance costs. It is not surprising then, that a massive investment has already gone into electric and hybrid vehicle fleets.
The importance of a hydrogen-fuelled future is neatly summarised by the European Union’s Mobility and Transport unit, which noted in September 2020: “Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies were identified amongst the new energy technologies needed to achieve a 60% to 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050, in the European Strategic Energy
Technology Plan presented along with the Energy Policy Package.”
The breakthrough for hydrogen appears to be mainly happening in transport, specifically buses. Hydrogen buses have been running routes in London since
2015 - eight hydrogen buses on the RV1 route with five refuelling stations ran for eight years clocking up more than a million miles. The world’s first hydrogen-powered double decker buses are now working in Aberdeen. This follows the city’s successful JIVE sponsored hydrogen bus project. Glasgow has also announced hydrogen bus initiatives within its overall clean transport investment plan. Wrightbus is now making the case for a £500 million package from the government’s National Bus Strategy fund to help stimulate the UK’s hydrogen industry and support its plans to build at least 3,000 hydrogen buses by 2024.
6 JUNE 2021 > COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER