Accelerating Towards Carbon Zero: 3 Hydrogen-Based Innovations Driving the Future of Transport

For many years, scientists have welcomed hydrogen as the eco-friendly fuel of the future. It produces no emissions when burned, other than air and water vapour. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?

Until recently, there’s been one major problem. While hydrogen itself may be CO2-free, it’s historically been produced using emissions-heavy methods – for example, by steam-heating coal or natural gas. But now that’s changing. With more and more energy companies investing in renewable hydrogen production, it really is lined up to be the next big thing in green fuel.

Here are three recent hydrogen-powered innovations that just might revolutionise transport.

The LAVO bike

A bike is the ultimate form of green transport, and it’s especially useful in crowded city centres when space and parking are at a premium. But cycling can be tiring, and sometimes you want to get from A to B with minimal effort and no sweat.

The LAVO bike by StudioMOM is the first of its kind: a hydrogen-based alternative to the classic battery-driven e-bike. Lightweight and sleek, it’s powered by small tanks that produce hydrogen using an electrolyser.  

And it’s not just a city bike. The LAVO bike is actually designed as a cargo bike, for long-distance rides – making it a competitor to the traditional scooter or motorbike for those who travel light and solo.

H2 Haul

But it’s not just personal transport that can benefit from this new technology. An innovative project, H2 Haul, is set to bring clean hydrogen to long-distance haulage. While studies have been made on smaller numbers of vehicles, H2 Haul will roll out a fleet of sixteen hydrogen-driven trucks by the end of 2023.

These trucks will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells and will have six hydrogen fuelling stations at their disposal across Europe. Their performance will be tracked, and the data analysed to establish whether hydrogen power is a feasible solution. If the results are good, it could have a massive impact on road transport emissions – bringing heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses in line with more easily modernised vehicles, such as cars.

HyMethShip

Shipping is another emissions-intensive sector that’s long overdue for a change. And it looks as if that change is on its way. The HyMethShip project, which ran from July 2018 to December 2021, pioneered a new form of onboard combustion engine that burns hydrogen generated from methanol.

The results were extremely promising, and the new system was deemed particularly suitable for cruise and passenger ships, as well as Roll-On-Roll-Off cargo ships and tankers. You can see a detailed explanation of the results here.

There’s no question that hydrogen is as clean as they come, but can its production be made sustainable, too? These three innovations strongly suggest that it can, even for demanding long-distance applications like shipping and haulage. We’re excited to see what’s coming next in the green transport revolution.