Incentivising adoption of hydrogen-fuelled heavy transport
The transport sector is huge; it is critical to the economy of the European Union (EU), contributing around five per cent to EU GDP, connecting it with global supply chains and employing more than 10 million people.
Yet it is also responsible for around one quarter of the region’s total greenhouse gas emissions and, if the climate neutrality objectives of the European Green Deal are to be met, transport emissions need to reduce by 90 per cent by 2050.
In its ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy’ announced at the end of last year, the European Commission emphasised the need to put the right incentives in place to drive the transition away from fossil fuels.
Appropriately targeted policies are an important lever that can boost the uptake of zero-emissions vehicles, as well as renewable zero-carbon fuels and related infrastructure. Take, for example, hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) that use platinum-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.
Growing demand for FCEVs, especially from fleet owners operating heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses, is already driving down manufacturing costs, reducing the all-important total cost of ownership (TCO) for truck fleet operators.
