New programme to make hydrogen travel a “reality”

Business Minister Mark Prisk has announced a new UKH2Mobility programme to ensure the UK is ready for the roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The programme will investigate the potential for hydrogen as fuel for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles and will go on to develop an action plan for the roll-out to consumers in 2014/15.

Prisk announced:

“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.” “This country has a number of world-class companies that are developing exciting technologies in both the hydrogen energy and automotive value chains and it is vitally important that we identify what is required to make these cars a realistic proposition for UK consumers. UKH2Mobility will bring together industry expertise to establish the UK as a serious global player in the manufacture and use of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and the supporting infrastructure.” Jerry Hardcastle, Vice-President for Vehicle Design and Development at Nissan continued:

“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.” Kevin Michaelis, Regional Vice President, Liquid Bulk/Generated Gases—Europe, Air Products, added:

“This project brings together the leading hydrogen infrastructure providers, at the forefront of deployment worldwide, with the common goal of supporting the rollout of hydrogen transport across the United Kingdom. The hydrogen infrastructure sector has been working over a number of years to develop hydrogen transport in the UK. We are very pleased that the progress made is being recognised by the Government in this ground breaking initiative that will shift the focus from R&D to deployment of hydrogen infrastructure.” “Working together with Government and leading car manufacturers we can support the creation of a hydrogen transport infrastructure that will dramatically cut harmful vehicle emissions and move the UK towards a zero carbon transport system.”