‘Hydrogen Mobility Needs To Be Leveraged To Complement Electric Mobility,’ Says Decarbonisation Expert Romain Pison

As the demand for transport supply increases, and our Paris Agreement alignment to reduce our carbon footprint constraints our input, there is a need to find new and green alternatives for both freight and passenger transport, leveraging both electric and hydrogen fueled vehicles. The transportation industry is one of the key contributors to emissions and climate change and is therefore under a high pressure to decarbonize. Legal incentives, as well as regulatory changes, combined with transport users’ increased demand for green solutions, are all bolstering the transport industry to adapt, evolve, and disrupt the status quo with new solutions.

In urban and short distance passenger transport,  battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are quickly increasing their market share, especially in captive fleets (taxis, car sharing, site-based fleets).  In short-haul freight, electric buses, trucks and vans are already reaching total cost of ownership (TCO) parity, which certainly helps simplify the energy transition. The combined effect of the fast progress of technologies, the battery cost curves, and the investment in charging infrastructure, are all helping the switch.

“The situation is quite different for long-haul trucking”, says Romain Pison. Longer distances, less predictable routes, and higher payloads have made this sector harder to follow the electric mobility uptake. “There is still lots of analysis to be done to compare the sweet spot for Hydrogen vs BEV. I believe that long-haul trucking should explore hydrogen-powered fuel especially on key trade and freight routes such as the Scan-Med Corridor”, says Pison. Hydrogen allows for faster refueling and greater range, and can also increase payload capacity.

“The production of hydrogen is also changing rapidly”, notes Romain Pison, “with electrolyzer costs that have declined by over 50 percent in the past 5 years”. Green hydrogen, sourced from renewable energy, also benefits from the massive cost reduction of renewable electricity, with recent solar PV power purchasing agreements (PPAs) signed for under $20 per MWh. Rapid technology changes allow electrolyzer companies to quote a green hydrogen production total cost of below $3.50 per kg.

One of the challenges remains the renewable energy production capacity to feed the demand for green hydrogen. “This is why we need to be very selective on the use-cases for hydrogen in transport”, explains Pison. When setting net-zero and climate action plans, there is first a need to look at the overall carbon budget and pathways in line with the Paris Agreement. “True decarbonisation is not about following the newest technologies”, notes Romain Pison, “but rather about looking at energy efficiency across the entire transport supply chain, from our energy production, the transport modes and technologies we use, and our energy consumption itself”.