LONDON, UK – 2 March – A new industry report published today calls for a coordinated, national hydrogen transport strategy to support the UK’s decarbonisation and path to Net Zero.
Hydrogen has a critical role to play in the decarbonisation of transport. Hydrogen is expected to be the dominant technology choice for several transport modes including HGVs, aviation and maritime through derivatives. It is also expected to play a role alongside electrification in trains, buses and commercial vehicles.
The Hydrogen Transport Benchmarking report, undertaken by Hydrogen UK and its members, makes three key recommendations to ensure the successful implementation of hydrogen within the UK transport sector:
The report presents a high-level overview of the UK’s current global position, benchmarking our hydrogen transport deployment and hydrogen related transport policies against other international economies. It is intended to act as a springboard for further analysis and spark debate with key Government and industry stakeholders. Throughout 2023, the Hydrogen UK Transport Working Group will be exploring various topics, including:
Announcing the report’s publication, Hydrogen UK’s CEO Clare Jackson said:
“We’re at an exciting juncture in the deployment of hydrogen as an essential component in the UK’s path to Net Zero. We know that hydrogen has a critical role to play in the decarbonisation of transport and this report highlights the importance of implementing a national hydrogen transport strategy. The UK Government and hydrogen industry must respond to ensure that we capitalise on the opportunities presented by this critical resource, which will help to drive the decarbonisation of our transport sector.”
Allan Rushforth, Chief Commercial Officer at First Hydrogen, said:
“It’s valuable that Hydrogen UK has gathered input from industry participants who are on the operational front-line and can provide an accurate view of the challenges and opportunities hydrogen adoption presents. The UK urgently needs to develop a national Hydrogen Transport strategy if it wants to deliver the opportunities of job creation and economic growth that the sector offers. Successful deployment requires coordination between transport networks and energy production, together with a combination of H2 refuelling on trunk roads and at zero emission fleet depots. Without this, hydrogen ecosystems such as Tees Valley and urban Ultra Low Emission Zones will not deliver the potential boost to regional and national growth, or indeed net zero target achievement, that can be achieved with greater engagement from Government.”
Andy Walker, Technology Market Insights Director at Johnson Matthey, said:
“The UK got off to a great start in the clean hydrogen race, but now needs to accelerate urgently to avoid being left behind as other nations start to implement their National Hydrogen Strategies and provide policy support. This Hydrogen Transport Benchmarking Report provides an excellent overview of the progress made worldwide in using hydrogen as a transport fuel and highlights the need for the UK to do more in this critical area if we are going to be serious players in what will be a very large global market as clean hydrogen plays an increasingly major role in the decarbonisation of transport going forward.”
Harsh Pershad, Head of Hydrogen at Tevva, said:
“Hydrogen can play multiple roles in helping to decarbonise the economy. Worldwide around a fifth of CO2 emissions comes from trucks, and McKinsey and the Hydrogen Council believe the most competitive use of hydrogen lies in decarbonising trucks. Hydrogen UK’s up-to-date statistics compare the numbers of hydrogen stations and vehicles of different types in different countries in 2022. Today the UK has pockets of Megawatt (MW)-scale hydrogen activities, that are evolving alongside ambitious proposals for Gigawatt (GW)-scale low carbon hydrogen clusters by 2030. Learning from initiatives in Europe, Asia and North America, as well as the UK’s own experiences, co-ordination is vital to minimise costs and maximise the benefits of hydrogen infrastructure. The opportunity is now for UK central, regional and local Government bodies and industry to plan and invest jointly to grow hydrogen transport systems holistically.”
This report marks the third in a series of reports from Hydrogen UK (HUK) – the UK’s largest and leading hydrogen trade association – that it will be publishing throughout 2023. The previous report, Recommendations for the Acceleration of Hydrogen Networks, was released in January 2023. The full Networks Report can be read here.
About Hydrogen UK
Hydrogen UK is the UK’s leading trade association supporting all organisations that are operating across this sector to scale up hydrogen solutions.
Hydrogen UK Members
Afry, AHT Group, Arcadis, Arup Group Limited, Baker McKenzie, Baringa, Baxi Heating, Bayotech, BOC Ltd, Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd, BP, Cadent, Carlton Power, Catalsys, Centrica, Clugston, Develop Training, DNV GL, EDF Energy, Equilibrion Ltd, Equinor Energy Trading Ltd, Exolum Ventures, ExxonMobil, First Hydrogen, Foresight Group, Fortescue Future Industries, Gexcon, GHD, Green Hydrogen Solutions Ltd, Greenergy, H2GO Power, HiiROC, Hydrasun, Inficon, ITM Power PLC, Johnson Matthey PLC, Kellas Midstream, Kiwa Energy, Levidian, Lhyfe, Marubeni Europower, Morrison Energy Services, National Grid, National Nuclear Laboratory, NNB Generation Company (SZC) Limited, Northern Gas Networks Limited, NZTC, Ørsted, Phillips 66, Progressive Energy, Rosen Group, RWE, SGN, Shell, Slaughter and May, Spirit Energy, SSE PLC, Tevva, Thirty47, Transitus Energy, UK Energy Storage Ltd, Uniper Energy Ltd, Vertex, Waternation
Media Contact:
Email: hydrogenuk@madano.com
