FOUNDATION FRAMEWORK

The UK recently published its ‘ Hydrogen Strategy ’, aiming to become net zero by 2050 . Harsh Pershad , Head of Hydrogen at Tevva , argues that hydrogen is the only way the country will achieve its ambitious goals .

Yet in her recent report , Jane Toogood , the UK Hydrogen Champion , found that there is a need for greater clarity on upcoming policy decisions for hydrogen users , the funding available and overall delivery of the hydrogen roadmap to 2030 and beyond . Is the UK really doing everything it can to maintain momentum and realise hydrogen opportunities ?

Tevva ’ s area of expertise – transport – will have a critical role to play in our country ’ s decarbonisation goals . Worldwide around a fifth of CO 2 emissions comes from trucks , and both McKinsey and the Hydrogen Council believe the most competitive use of hydrogen lies in decarbonising trucks . Trucks using batteries or hydrogen fuel cells , instead of diesel engines , will indeed need to make up the vast majority of new sales by 2040 under plans to reduce CO 2 emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles . Yet only around 700 trucks that run on batteries or fuel cells were sold in Europe in 2022 – about 0.2 % of the total .

The good news is that the economics of owning and operating electric and hydrogen trucks are improving rapidly . And with diesel truck prices set to increase with Euro 7 , the electrification of our sector could happen sooner than previously thought .

Yet there are still serious challenges around the lack of hydrogen , refuelling stations and the fact that most fleet operators have no experience with hydrogen . Additionally , many hydrogen suppliers have no experience with truck fleets .

As an early adopter and developer of hydrogen technology , Tevva is playing an important role in demonstrating the potential for hydrogen-

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