What is Hydrogen fuel?
Hydrogen is the lightest element in the universe. It rarely exists on Earth on its own but can be produced using clean energy to split water molecules which produces oxygen as a by-product. However, 96% of Hydrogen fuel is made directly from fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide.
The number of countries with policies that support investment in hydrogen technologies is increasing, along with the number of sectors they target. There are around 50 targets, mandates and policy incentives in place today that direct support hydrogen, with the majority, focused on transport.
Hydrogen Usage
Seven hydrogen car models have gone into limited production, of which three are still being produced by Honda, Hyundai and Toyota. Total sales amount to a few thousand vehicles. Most manufacturers that began hydrogen ventures when the US offered substantial funding for hydrogen initiatives between 2003 and 2009 appear to have switched their attention to EVs. As of January 2019, there were ten public hydrogen filling stations in the UK (plus a few at universities and research centres), 40 each in the US and Western Europe and 91 in Japan.
Pros & Cons
PRO: Range & Refuelling time
Current hydrogen models offer significantly greater range than typical EVs, although the range is less than 300 miles (due to the space taken up by the large hydrogen tanks). Refuelling is much faster than an EV. It takes around five minutes per 300 hydrogen miles, vs 0.5 hours to 5.5 hours to charge an EV battery for 100 miles of range.
CONS: Physics. Infrastructure. CO2
- Whether the starting point for hydrogen is steam-treated natural gas or electrolysis of water, the extra steps required to get electricity to the motor of an FCV, mean the car ends up with less on-board energy than if you’d put LPG directly into an ICE or plugged an EV into a charger.
- Hydrogen fuelling infrastructure is minimal, with half the UK network of 10 public filling stations located within the M25. Hydrogen is expensive to store and transport because it leaks incredibly easily, and a proportion of each tank ‘boils off’ every day unless the container is constantly cooled. Estimates of what it would cost to equip the US road network with hydrogen refuelling points range as high as half a trillion dollars, compared to less than 10 billion dollars to install sufficient public EV charging infrastructure for the US’s needs to 2025.
- Nearly 95% of commercial hydrogen is produced from natural gas – i.e. fossil fuel – in a chemical process involving steam. The CO2 emissions from generating heat for the steam, plus those from the energy required to compress and distribute the hydrogen by road, are roughly the same as the well-to-wheel footprint of an EV (including vehicle and battery manufacturing). Hydrogen produced via electrolysis costs significantly more than hydrogen from natural gas.
Although hydrogen fuel has the potential, there are more established greener fuels out there. One primed fuel that can reduce emissions is HVO fuel. By using HVO fuel, you can reduce Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) by 30%. Through HVO fuel, particulate matter drops by 86% and slashes Carbon Dioxide by 96%.
Oilfast UK is dedicated to offering greener fuel replacements to help meet the “Net-Zero” target. Oilfast UK can supply HVO fuel throughout the UK. Are you interested in HVO fuel? Contact our friendly sales team on 01291 324 019 to discuss your fuelling options.