Car makers team up over hydrogen power
With all the talk about plug-in hybrid and battery-electric cars you could be forgiven for forgetting about hydrogen power. Well, some of the world’s largest car makers and suppliers have not forgotten about it, with 13 major corporations banding together to invest €10bn over the next five years to develop hydrogen-powered products.
Manufacturers Toyota, BMW, Daimler, Honda and Hyundai are teaming up with traditional fossil-fuel companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Total to form a hydrogen council.
Other members include gas suppliers Linde and Engie, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, rail company Alstom and mining company Anglo American.
The council’s goal is to promote the benefits of hydrogen to the public and policy makers around the world to ensure it is not forgotten in the drive towards zero-emission vehicles. In a statement issued from the Davos World Economic Forum, the group included cars, houses, utilities and industries as pollution sources that could benefit from a switch to hydrogen power.
“The world of energy is transforming very, very fast,” Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said. “Hydrogen has massive potential,” he added.
Toyota and Hyundai both already have production hydrogen-powered cars on their books, while BMW and Daimler have had press drives of its hydrogen prototypes for more than 20 years.
While Toyota has finally moved battery-electric cars up its list of priorities, the car maker has long insisted hydrogen fuelcell cars are at the heart of its strategies for cutting emissions by 90% by 2050.
“In addition to transportation, hydrogen has the potential to support our transition to a lowcarbon society across multiple industries and the entire value chain,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota’s chairman and a council co-chairman.
THE WORLD OF ENERGY IS TRANSFORMING VERY FAST. HYDROGEN HAS MASSIVE POTENTIAL