New Government and cross-industry programme aims to make hydrogen powered travel in the UK a reality
Wed 18 January 2012
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The UK Government has announced the launch of a government-industry project which aims to ensure that the UK is well-positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The new programme – UKH2Mobility – has been set up to evaluate the potential for hydrogen as a fuel for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles in the UK before developing an action plan for an anticipated roll-out to consumers in 2014/15.
Business Minister Mark Prisk announced that the project aims to:
• Analyse in detail the specific UK case for the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles as one of a number of solutions to decarbonise road transport and quantify the potential emissions benefits;
• Review the investments required to commercialise the technology, including refuelling infrastructure; and
• Identify what is required to make the UK a leading global player in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle manufacturing thereby paving the way for economic opportunities to the UK, through the creation of new jobs and boosting of local economies.
The group brings together the Government and industrial participants from the utility, gas, infrastructure and global car manufacturing sectors and all the participants have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to agree to share their knowledge and expertise.
Speaking at the launch of UKH2Mobility Mark Prisk said: “The UK is proving itself to be a key early market for ultra-low emission vehicles with growing numbers of electric and plug-in hybrids appearing on our roads. The Government is supporting this market by investing £400million to support the development, demonstration and deployment of these vehicles.
“Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are increasingly being recognised as one of the viable options as we move to a lower carbon motoring future. They are highly efficient, can be fuelled in minutes, travel an equivalent range to a conventional combustion engine, and have zero tail-pipe emissions.
Jerry Hardcastle, Vice-President for Vehicle Design and Development at Nissan said: “This is an important step for the automotive sector towards the development of clean vehicle technologies and zero emission mobility. It will lay many of the foundations for the commercial deployment of hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles which could represent a large segment of the UK market in the coming years. With this comprehensive list of partners we can be assured to have all the knowledge necessary to make UKH2 Mobility an exhaustive and credible study.” (For further quotes see BIS press release link.)
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) also welcomed the announcement. SMMT Chief Executive Paul Everitt said: “UK H2Mobility is an exciting initiative that will accelerate the development and introduction of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles in UK.
“It is yet another signal of the UK’s commitment to create a strong ultra-low carbon vehicle market and attract major international investment in R&D and product development to secure the long-term success of automotive manufacturing.”
The SMMT said that work undertaken by the Automotive Council to develop the strategic direction for automotive technologies has played a pivotal role in identifying ‘sticky technologies’ and developing an industry-wide consensus ‘Low Carbon Vehicle Roadmap’, which forecasts mass market hydrogen vehicle uptake to begin within the next 10 years.
There are 13 industry participants (below) in UKH2Mobility together with three UK Government Departments – The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, The Department for Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change in addition to the European Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.
Industry signatory parties to the Memorandum of Understanding are: Air Liquide, SA, Air Products PLC , Daimler AG, Hyundai Motor Company ,Intelligent Energy Limited, ITM Power PLC , Johnson Matthey PLC, Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Limited, Scottish and Southern Energy plc, Tata Motors European Technical Centre plc, The BOC Group Limited, Toyota Motor Corporation, Vauxhall Motors.
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