The U.S. Army has been showing off the prototype of its new H2Rescue truck that runs on hydrogen fuel and can go 1,500 miles before it needs a refill, CleanTechnica reported.
It all began five years ago when teams were brainstorming solutions to improve the Army's emergency response capabilities. It's all part of the force's 2022 Climate Strategy, which it says starts with fielding hybrid tactical vehicles by 2035 and aims to shift to fully electric ones by 2050.
While it may look like a fancy box truck, there's a lot going on under the hood. It boasts an electric drivetrain, a hydrogen fuel cell, storage for up to 176 kilograms of hydrogen, and high-density lithium-ion batteries.
The truck can become an on-site hub during emergencies, providing 25 kilowatts of export power — enough for around 20 homes — for 72 hours, according to the DHS. It also factors in enough to run its own systems, offering cooling or warming for those in need or serving as a mobile command center.
The Army report says that hydrogen fuel cells only emit water and air as byproducts, and a single fuel up can provide between 200 and 400 gallons of water as a byproduct. Right now, it can only be used for washing, but the goal is to upgrade it with a filtering system to make potable water.
"California wildfires [were] going out west, there were a couple of hurricanes in the southeast and we knew that big swaths of the U.S. were having these natural disasters [and] that customers didn't have power, water and were just devastated," Nicholas Josefik, technical lead on the project, shared in the report.
The H2Rescue vehicle is one step in the right direction for the environment. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, passenger vehicles, like cars and trucks, are responsible for around 41% of planet-warming carbon emissions in the U.S. by burning dirty fuels
Trucks, an Army mainstay, may only represent 4% by vehicle type, but they produce 23% of the emissions in that grouping, the Army reports. By using cleaner hydrogen, it's estimated that the H2Rescue could conserve around 1,825 gallons of dirtier fuel and reduce emissions by 2.5 metric tons annually.
It's also beneficial for rescue workers and those in need on disaster sites to have as much clean air as possible. Diesel generators, the current go-to for power generation in those situations, aren't doing anyone any favors. Plus, the new rescue vehicle runs nearly silent, reducing noise pollution.
The supply chain for hydrogen fuel is still developing, so to be safe, the Army is also developing a mobile hydrogen generator that just needs water and electricity to produce the fuel. However, some factories are already producing clean hydrogen through renewable sources like solar and wind.
The Army will continue demonstrating the H2Rescue throughout the year, showing that this one hybrid truck can replace generators, fuel tankers, and a gas-guzzling support vehicle.
As Josefik explained, "Instead of having to bring in those three different pieces of equipment, now you drive your vehicle to the location and your vehicle is your power generator."
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