Heavy Trucks Eye Hydrogen Potential

As well as the potential for hydrogen infrastructure, there is another side of the hydrogen coin that involves the heavy-lift and out-of-gauge sector: hydrogen fueling for trucks carrying over-dimensional cargoes.

While ESTA Director Ton Kijn concedes that it is too early to see any significant impact from the development of a hydrogen energy sector on the workload for the heavy transport industry, the development of hydrogen combustion engines is an area that he sees as “very exciting.”

“I personally think hydrogen has the best potential for heavy transport in the long run, provided the ‘direct combustion’ solutions like those being worked on by JCB and Cummins among others – that is to say, without fuel cells – are perfected to a reliable and economically feasible solution,” he said to Breakbulk.

However, he warned that political leaders in Brussels and European Union member states will need to keep up with the pace of change.

“If industry is to develop the new supply chains that will be required, we will need our politicians to show clear thinking and leadership – and that means agreeing the necessary standards as a matter of urgency.”

Kijn explained that hydrogen’s energy density is relatively low, so for it to work it has to be kept at a high pressure. “This raises a lot of questions about standards, regulation and safety – all issues that will need sorting out. We know from bitter experience – and our long campaign for harmonized European standards in abnormal transport – that such aims are far easier to debate than deliver.

“We can only hope that the climate emergency will induce a much greater sense of urgency.”