Can Toyota’s New Hydrogen Tech Decarbonise Road Freight?
More than 70% of European freight is transported by heavy-duty vehicles on land. Almost all of Europe's 6.5 million trucks are powered by diesel - alternative powertrains make up just 1% of the fleet. Despite freight vehicles making up just 2% of automobiles in Europe, they are the second largest contributors to CO2 emissions in transport.
Toyota[1] thinks the solution may lie in hydrogen fuel.
Hydrogen: The pros and cons
Hydrogen[2] has the potential to fuel heavy-duty vehicles with net zero emissions, but it isn't an easy transition as there isn't much hydrogen infrastructure. Commercial trucks demand large volumes of hydrogen, positioning them as key contributors in developing hydrogen infrastructures. Toyota is piloting a new hydrogen fuel cell long-haul truck with zero tailpipe emissions in collaboration with Coca-Cola and Air Liquide.
Thiebault Paquet, Vice President for Research and Development at Toyota Motor Europe, says: "To help speed up the expansion of hydrogen technology implementation in our society, we are expanding the use of our Toyota Fuel Cell Module beyond passenger cars into trucks, buses, coaches, trains, boats, near-shore and short-sea vessels, stationary generators, and so on.