Achieve a Zero-Emission Future

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Why Hydrogen Fuel is Necessary to Achieve a Zero-Emission Future

In July, the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) presented its update of heavy-duty trucking in California.  CaFCP is an industry and government collaboration with members who work together to expand the market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.  Their goal is to have 70,000 zero-emission trucks supported by 200 fueling stations by 2035.  This is only a step towards the ultimate goal of achieving 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2045.

Is Hydrogen fuel superior to Battery-Electric power?

There is a significant debate about which technology–electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell–will be the pervasive alternative energy solution for tomorrow’sZero-Emission Future transportation needs.   CaFCP is very clear that while hydrogen fuel cell trucks are proving to be the best alternative fuel solution for Class 8 trucks, the road to achieving 100% zero-emission must include a combination of hydrogen fuel cell electric (FCET) and battery electric vehicles (BET).  This means the two industries aren’t competing but rather complement each other to achieve a shared goal.  However, there are notable constraints in expanding BET adoption.

One of the most significant limitations in the broad adoption of BET vehicles is the capacity required for charging large fleets.  For example, a company with one or two BET transport vans can easily re-charge their vehicles overnight.  However, in San Pedro Bay, their ports operate with an estimated 17,000 trucks.  To recharge San Pedro Bay’s fleet, it would require about six additional gigawatts of power allocated to the ports alone. To provide enough capacity to re-charge all of the Class 8 tractors registered in California, we would need to double the entire California electric grid.  In other words, we cannot reach 100% zero-emission without hydrogen fuel to power FCET vehicles.  Fortunately, expanding FCETs is entirely possible.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles, or FCETs, are well equipped for the transportation industry’s needs.

In 2018, TTSI, an asset-based logistics provider in California, produced a report showing that hydrogen-powered trucks have a significantly lower cost of ownership.  While the average price of a truck was $270,000 compared to the sticker price of an equivalent diesel-powered rig at $140,000, the FCET had a total ownership cost of $287,148 compared to the diesel’s cost of $362,720.  TTSI enjoys many benefits by using hydrogen-fueled vehicles, including Class 8 trucks such as:

  • Zero greenhouse gas emissions
  • No noise pollution
  • Sufficient power to move loads from high grades to heavy containers
  • A substantial increase of torque over diesel and natural gas
  • Cheaper operating costs per mile

What do we need to create widespread adoption of FCETs?

CaFCP emphasizes that policy development is critical to creating an infrastructure with both the supply and the demand for hydrogen fuel and fuel cell trucks.  For widespread adoption, we need affordable FCET trucks and readily available hydrogen fuel.  Through decades of research, prototypes, and limited adoption, manufacturers can now produce reliable FCETs with long lifespans at a reasonable price.  The major hurdle in front of us is creating enough hydrogen fuel stations to make refueling convenient and easy.  Currently, California has 48 hydrogen fueling stations.  In comparison, there are approximately 500 diesel fuel stations in California for the trucking industry.

While this is a tremendous start, converting all long-haul trucks based in California to FCET isn’t as easy as simply providing hydrogen fuel stations throughout California.  Long-haul truckers based in California frequently drive their loads out of the state.  Therefore, for Class 8 trucks to be replaced by hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen fuel stations must extend past the borders of California.  CaFCP is working with the trucking industry to determine locations in the other Western States along major freeway networks that must be set up with hydrogen fuel stations to support long-distance truckers.

PowerTap Hydrogen offers an affordable solution to extend the network.

PowerTap Hydrogen allows fuel station owners to produce hydrogen fuel on-site, with a production unit taking up less than 1,000 square feet of space.  Our units can produce over 1,250 kg of pure hydrogen each day using only city water, natural gas, and electricity.  With PowerTap Hydrogen, it’s possible to produce fuel at less than $2 per kilogram–that’s about $9 less than purchasing hydrogen fuel from a wholesaler or producing it onsite via alternative solutions.

If you’re interested in diversifying your current product mix or would like to begin a journey in the exciting future of alternative energy solutions, contact our team at PowerTap Hydrogen today.  We’d love to show you how easy it is to be a part of the hydrogen fuel revolution.