Hydrogen is rapidly gaining traction worldwide. While electric vehicles have led the automotive industry, hydrogen is emerging as another major player in green energy solutions. Across the globe, industries are exploring hydrogen-powered engines to develop the most efficient and carbon-neutral alternative.
Australian team adapts existing engines for carbon neutrality
To drastically reduce the CO2 emissions produced by diesel engines and help lower Australia’s carbon footprint, a team from The University of New South Wales (UNSW), led by Professor Shawn Kook, Associate Professor Shaun Chan, and Professor Evatt Hawkes, has successfully developed a hydrogen-diesel direct injection dual-fuel technology. This innovation enables diesel engines to operate primarily on hydrogen. Instead of waiting decades for the development and widespread adoption of new fuel cell systems, existing diesel engines can be retrofitted with this new technology, allowing heavy industries to significantly reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
Australia’s carbon emission goals are currently as follows:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030
- A multi-year emissions budget for the period from 2021 to 2030, with an indicative total of 4,381 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent, in line with the 43% reduction goal
- Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Hydrogen vehicles are gaining ground not just in Australia, but worldwide to help countries meet their carbon goals.
Years of research has prepared the team for this moment
The team has spent years building essential knowledge before developing and testing the dual-fuel system, which has been shown to operate using 90% hydrogen and 10% diesel, cutting CO2 emissions by up to 77%. Hydrogen, a green fuel when sourced from renewable feedstocks, produces no CO2 when burned.
“We wanted to accelerate decarbonization across a range of hard to abate heavy industries such as mining and agriculture,” says Professor Kook, “diesel operators are required to reduce their CO2 emissions, and this is key for their operations – there’s desperate demand for it.” Part of the motivation behind developing hydrogen solutions for heavy industries is due to their inability to be electrified. Heavy industry generally refers to industry which produces large industrial projects.
“They operate high uptime machines, which means the long charging time of battery electric vehicles poses a significant challenge, and hydrogen fuel cell needs to be significantly further developed before exposing it to harsh, heavy-duty applications,” explains Professor Kook, “the new technology converts existing diesel engines without the need to dispose of them, which provides a great practical benefit as there’s CO2 reduction with minimal action needed.”
Hydrogen’s impact expected to accelerate in the next decade
Hydrogen’s impact is expected to accelerate significantly over the next decade as advancements in technology, infrastructure, and policy support drive its adoption across various industries. As a clean energy source, hydrogen offers a viable solution to decarbonize sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy industry, long-distance transport, and aviation.
The continued development of hydrogen production methods is also expected to lower costs and increase efficiency. In addition, expanding refueling infrastructure and government incentives will help drive its widespread use. With increasing global emphasis on reducing carbon emissions, hydrogen is poised to play a crucial role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, complementing other renewable energy solutions like wind and solar power.
Many automobile companies have already started to add hydrogen engines to their model offerings. While brands like Toyota and Hyundai have been leading the way, other major automobile companies are also catching on. Hydrogen solutions not only diversify green engine offerings to consumers, but are helping brands to stay competitive as the world grows increasingly concerned about climate change. While other alternative fuel efforts have been made, hydrogen appears to be the most promising when it comes to rivaling electric solutions.