Looking at the Cummins Hydrogen Option

Here is a video, set in India, but looking at the zero emission transition for trucking and for heavy duty long distance tasks around the world, by looking at the Cummins hydrogen option with an internal combustion engine using the gas.

To combat the climate crisis, Cummins, like the rest of the truck industry, knows we need innovative solutions that support the decarbonisation of our global industry. The solution examined here is the hydrogen internal combustion engine.

This video was produced by BBC StoryWorks for Cummins as part of the #HumanisingEnergy series presented by the World Energy Council.

“Vehicles with hydrogen internal combustion engines can operate without any CO2 emissions coming from the hydrogen fuel, direct or indirect, depending on the source of the hydrogen used,” says Cummins on its website. “Hydrogen produced by electrolysis using electricity coming from solar panels or wind turbines, for example, enables CO2-free driving. Additionally, hydrogen fuels do not release any particulate matter, carbon monoxide, or volatile organic compounds.

“Hydrogen engines do, however, have the potential to release some NOx, an atmospheric pollutant that can contribute to the haze sometimes observed above large cities during summer months. After-treatment systems are used to eliminate most NOx emissions.”

It is said that, in the United States, converting medium and heavy-duty trucks to clean hydrogen would eliminate about a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

There are issues around transitioning across to hydrogen ICE from diesel ICE, and the first is on-board storage. Hydrogen vehicles require more economical ways to store hydrogen onboard, because the storage required will be bigger and heavier than on current diesel trucks.

There is also the issue of developing a fuelling infrastructure, which is also a problem for potential electric solutions. Hydrogen trucks can only work where hydrogen is available and developing an infrastructure is not going to be either easy or cheap.

There is also the a need to develop a green hydrogen production industry to be ready for the increase in demand as trucking transitions.