Green hydrogen has been in the news often lately. Well, according to a research conducted by BloombergNEF (BNEF) states green hydrogen can be the best alternative fuels for heavy duty vehicles. And at the same time it is very much cost effective as well.
Still, many of you are not convinced yet, how it can be benefitting in every single possible way. So, before we dive into this whole thing let’s have a glance over it.
What exactly is Green Hydrogen?
Green hydrogen, an alternative fuel generated with clean energy, is an energy source that could help bring the world to net-zero emissions in the coming decades. This inexhaustible energy with low-emissions using renewable electricity like wind turbines and solar panels, offers a promising route to cutting emissions, at a manageable price.
In addition, this environmentally friendly fuel is a non-toxic, colourless, and odourless gas. Also, it has the highest energy density by mass among conventional fuels and, crucially, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is comparable to that used for conventional road fuels.
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Like we’ve discussed above when it comes down to cost it’s pretty much environment friendly fuel so the cost is. Which is very lower than diesel in most parts of the world by 2050, suggests the report’s findings.
It can be produced from a wide range of energy forms, including renewable electricity. It can be easily stored, compressed or liquefied either in pure form, mixed with natural gas, or bound with larger molecules.
Green Hydrogen is easily transported by pipeline, truck, or ship. It can be safely used to fuel vehicles and is in many respects even safer than petrol and diesel. On top of that, it has been safely produced for decades and is used in industry and space research.
Need of Green Hydrogen
The green hydrogen scenario also promises to deliver the largest reduction in air pollutants — up to 42 percent for the current conditions of emissions.
However, producing hydrogen with the current (fossil fuel-intense) electricity mix would result in an increase or minimal effect (i.e., no benefit) in emissions of some pollutants.
Transitioning only heavy duty vehicles to green hydrogen would already deliver a large reduction in emissions.
“According to our calculations, if only the HDV vehicle segment were to undergo this transition, then we would already get nearly a third of the total possible reduction, with only one third of total hydrogen demand that would be needed to fuel the entire vehicle fleet — a clear low-hanging fruit,” says scientist Weger. In conclusion, the team of authors argue that commercial and large vehicles powered by hydrogen could make a rapid and substantial contribution to Germany’s overall reduction in emissions.
Advantages of Green Hydrogen
Transport is one of the most emission-intensive sectors for both climate and air pollutants. That’s why it becomes the biggest challenge to implementing this alternative, according to the study, has to do with transport and storage, but if the clean hydrogen industry can scale up, many of the hard-to-abate sectors could be decarbonized using hydrogen, at surprisingly low costs.
This can be a turning point on fleet management, since introducing green hydrogen-fueled component on fleets can:
- Reduce fuel costs per mile;
- Improve energy security;
- Enable business continuity;
- Provide more stability facing fossil fuel price fluctuations.
Final Verdict
Due to extraordinary circumstances, including the countermeasures adopted to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, crude oil values have been lower but as the fleets start to move again following the lockdowns, fuel demand will probably rise, along with prices.
However, this reduction is not expected to be lasting, with emissions from the transport sector almost returning to their original levels.
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Quick Read: EU Strategies For Reducing CO2 Emissions From Heavy-Duty Vehicles