Big truck makers have decided to keep old combustion engines on the road, but, according to Reuters, they are taking steps to eventually move off of dirty energy and embrace cleaner technology in the form of hydrogen.
The global freight industry contributes about 8% of global carbon pollution, and 65% of that comes from road transport, so the sooner the industry moves to clean energy, the better it will be for all of us.
The freight industry has had a difficult time transitioning to clean energy as the electric batteries required are too heavy and have too short of a range for long-haul trucking, and they take too long to charge. Using hydrogen fuel cells is an option, but companies need to design new trucks, making it too expensive. So truck makers have shifted their focus to developing hydrogen combustion engines as a more viable option, at least in the short term, as it's quicker and cheaper.
Unfortunately, the green hydrogen necessary to make hydrogen combustion engines relatively clean and efficient is not widely available because it's expensive to produce.
Green hydrogen is produced by an electrolyzer, which splits water molecules, isolating the hydrogen — and crucially, it is produced using only renewable energy sources such as wind or solar to power the energy needs required in the manufacturing. As MIT Climate has said, though, "gray hydrogen" is much more common, using natural gas instead, which generally defeats the purpose of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source, since it becomes more expensive and more polluting than the potential of green hydrogen if able to reach a higher scale.
"Everybody is working on this," said Reiner Roessner, vice president for sales at the engine division of MAN Truck & Bus SE. "As soon as the hydrogen is available, demand for hydrogen combustion will go up."
Another hurdle in the way of converting to hydrogen combustion engines is that hydrogen trucks need larger pressurized fuel tanks than diesel trucks, but that too is a challenge already taken on.
The challenge of large-scale production of green hydrogen is also being met head-on. There are projects currently underway in the U.S. and in Europe, and an Australian company recently developed technology that improves the efficiency of green hydrogen production.
The reason so many are racing to replace dirty energy with green hydrogen is because, when burned, hydrogen only releases water vapor rather than the carbon pollution that leads to the overheating of the planet, causing extreme weather events like floods and droughts and threatening the global food supply. If it can be obtained, processed, and burned without nearly as much pollution as other physical fuels — while also extending the life of many combustion engines — it could be a revolutionary advancement toward a cleaner future.
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
