United Kingdom may become hydrogen fuel cell vehicles ‘world leader’

A growing number of H2 powered cars, trucks, buses, planes and trains are making their way into the UK.

The United Kingdom is becoming one of the top locations in which hydrogen fuel cell cars are being deployed, and some expect the UK to become a “market leader” in the use of the technology.

This has been underscored as companies gain access to new options for revolutionizing their fleets.

First Hydrogen is among the companies seeking to move the UK’s adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles forward. Its H2 powered van will start its demonstrator testing in June. After that, it is hoping to begin delivery of the first of the commercial vans before the close of 2022. H2 is rapidly becoming a top zero-emission energy source worldwide. In the UK, many regions are creating decarbonization strategy based on both battery electric and the hydrogen car. The goal is to reach the net zero-carbon target of 2050 on time or ahead of time.

The British government announced in August 2021 that it was launching a “world-leading” hydrogen economy plan. That strategy was meant to support more than 9,000 jobs and would result in £4 billion (USD $5.28 billion) by 2030.

The company believes that the widespread adoption of hydrogen cars will begin this year.

According to First Hydrogen CEO of Automation Steve Gill, the H2 sector in the United Kingdom is already well underway, and vehicles such as those from his company will start being adopted in greater numbers this year.

“I think the Government is doing certain things,” said Gill as quoted in an Express.co.uk report. “They’re looking to have five gigawatts of low carbon hydrogen by 2030. They’ve put £240million into the Hydrogen Fund.”

“But we would like to see them doing more,” he added, pointing out that “You look at Germany, €11billion, France €7billion, the US, all very large sums, so we would like the Government to support that to a greater degree as they have, rightly so, for EVs.”

According to Gill, the adoption of zero-emission vehicles is “a mixed growth area”, and substantial expansion is already underway in green H2, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, infrastructure, and battery electrics. He underscored the number of major players already involved in H2 and related infrastructure, including Shell, BP , and Ineos, among others.

First Hydrogen Van – *Image Credit: https://firsthydrogen.com/first-hydrogens-green-hydrogen-van-to-begin-demonstrator-testing-in-june/

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