Hydrogen is regarded by many as the fuel of the future. Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are emissions free, can match the performance of regular cars and are set to become increasingly available to consumers. Nonetheless, they have their critics. There’s still division on whether electric vehicles should be powered by hydrogen or with a battery. Makers of battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), most notably Tesla Cars CEO Elon Musk, dismiss FCEVs as expensive and inefficient. There is also a lack of infrastructure to support them.
But the world is crying out for cleaner transport and British entrepreneurs are making strides in this nascent industry.
A lack of infrastructure is one of the main problems preventing the adoption of FCEVs. There are very few hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK, with 12 expected to be in operation by the end of 2016, and consumers are unlikely to buy a car unless they are sure they can fill its tank.
Hydrogen itself also comes with some challenges. It does not exist independently and needs to be extracted from other chemical compounds such as water. This is called electrolysis, an energy intensive process which risks undermining the environmental benefits of using hydrogen. Also, hydrogen isn’t the easiest substance to transport.
One UK company which believes it has overcome these issues is Sheffield-based ITM Power. The business, founded in 2001, has built three hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK and exports to California, France, Norway and Germany. ITM’s stations perform electrolysis at the forecourt, avoiding transportation problems.
Furthermore, it avoids high energy bills by taking the excess energy produced from renewable sources. CEO Graham Cooley says that because renewable energy sources tend to outstrip supply (on very windy or sunny days), producers are left with surplus energy. “Renewable energy supplies are regularly turned off when they exceed demand, it’s called ‘curtailment’. But ITM’s systems can harness and fully utilise this surplus renewable energy to create hydrogen,” says Cooley. “This can be done anywhere there is an electricity and water supply, eliminating the need for deliveries by road and using electricity at times when the price is lowest.”
Cooley says hydrogen is poised for take-off as the major problems have been overcome. FCEVs can match the performance of petrol-powered cars and can be refuelled in three minutes at the pump. Much of the engineering of FCEVs is the same as other hybrid and electric cars. Cooley says drivers can therefore expect an experience comparable to what they’re used to, with the big exception being that FCEVs emit only water vapour from their exhausts.
ITM plans to have 10 stations in the UK by the end of 2017 and expects the number of FCEVs to increase soon, too. It also has a fuel supply agreement with Toyota for its FCEV saloon, the Mirai, of which there are about a dozen on UK roads. “The industry is about to finally take off for hydrogen and transport. There is a demand for clean emission transport, given the urgent need to improve air quality and FCEVs tick the right boxes,” says Cooley.
There is also backing from governments for the hydrogen industry. ITM receives funding from the UK’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), Innovate UK and, for the time being, a number of European Union funds. During the summer, OLEV launched a £2m competition encouraging businesses to switch to hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. The money covers 75% of purchase price and running costs of FCEVs such Toyota Mirai or Hyundai ix35.
Also, OLEV has recently announced £4m of grant funding for businesses that want to convert their commercial fleets (vans and HGVs) to electric vehicles. Indeed, the government seems keen to court Japanese carmakers that are both making strides in clean vehicles and which have manufacturing operations in the UK.
FCEVs are still expensive, and prices will only fall once the car industry’s economies of scale take effect. But new entrants are moving into FCEVs. One of them is Welsh carmaker Riversimple. Its CEO Hugo Spowers believes new makers have advantages in creating entirely new vehicles as they are unencumbered by the legacy of big companies.
Riversimple has created the Rasa – derived from the Latin for “clean slate” – a two-seater FCEV capable of 60mph which does “the equivalent” of 250 miles per gallon. “The industry has engineering challenges that we don’t have because we have started from a clean sheet of paper – we began with a hydrogen fuel cell, a manifesto for sustainable design and a blank sheet of paper,” says Spowers.
The business has already been through a lengthy period of R&D and has been the recipient of a £2m grant from the Welsh government to build the prototype, as well as smaller grants from Innovate UK, and the small car manufacturers’ group the Niche Vehicle Network. A further €2m grant from the EU is in the offing to help fund a partnership agreement with Monmouthshire county council, where Riversimple will run a 12-month trial of 20 hand-built hydrogen cell cars. If all goes to plan, the Rasa will come to market in late 2018, in time for what could be a full-scale hydrogen revolution.
“The UK government predicts that there will be more than one and a half million FCEVs the roads by 2030. Riversimple wants to play a big part of this, ensuring that its clean vehicles are affordable and attractive to consumers interested in clean transportation,” says Spowers.
Public transport could also be in store for an overhaul. Liverpool-based ULEMCo has developed technology to convert diesel vehicles such as large vans and HGVs to run as dual fuel engines using hydrogen. It has already converted just over 50 vehicles on behalf of public sector clients and transport companies and expects the market to increase. “As hydrogen refuelling infrastructure develops, we expect to sell more conversions,” says CEO Amanda Lyne.
However, she admits there are a lot of risks to investing in hydrogen, as it is a “disruptive technology”, attempting to unseat “an entrenched, powerful, incumbent industry” in the form of the oil industry. The UK market has been slow so far, and the company is more likely to make deals in overseas markets. “We are very close to a deal in North America that could result in hundreds of very large trucks being powered by hydrogen. Other countries are doing a lot more to get at the opportunity of hydrogen,” she says.
Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion