Is hydrogen the future of travel?
Trains powered by hydrogen could be running in the UK by the early 2020s, according to transport secretary Chris Grayling. The statement follows the introduction in Germany in September of the world’s first passenger trains powered by hydrogen – considered a quieter, cleaner alternative to diesel – which is very polluting – on non-electrified lines.
Built by French TGV manufacturer Alstom, the vehicles are operating on a 62-mile stretch of line in the north of the country between the towns and cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude.
Alstom has been contracted to provide another 14 trains to Lower Saxony state by 2021, while other German states – along with the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy and Canada – have also expressed an interest.
Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity from a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, a process which leaves water as the only emission.
They are more expensive than diesel trains, but the project has been supported by the German government. They can reach speeds of 87mph and run for about 600 miles on a full tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains. They will be refuelled at a mobile hydrogen filling station at Bremervörde station, with a permanent filling station planned for 2021.
Hydrogen buses
In the UK, Aberdeen already has a fleet of hydrogen buses, and the city council is encouraging the use of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.
Ten buses started running in 2015, and last year £13 million of funding, including £3 million from the Scottish Government and £2.5 million from the council, was provided for ten more. The city has also hosted an international summit on hydrogen-fuelled transport.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Aberdeen has led the way on the deployment of hydrogen buses. I know cities elsewhere in Scotland and, indeed, around the world have been following developments in Aberdeen closely.”
Clean and green?
However, hydrogen is not a completely clean fuel – right now, the cheapest way to produce it is from natural gas, which is exposed to high-temperature steam in reactors to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Gas company Linde is supplying the hydrogen for Alstom’s trains, so at the moment, they are still reliant on fossil fuels.
Most of the world’s trains run on diesel, which doesn’t just produce carbon dioxide but a lot of particulate pollution too. Electric trains powered by wind or solar power would be a great solution – but some lines are unfeasibly expensive to electrify, for example because they are too far from an electric grid or because the line will run too infrequently to recoup the necessary investment.
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