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When a glossy new prepare rolls into Southern California later this yr, it is going to be the primary within the nation, and one in every of solely a handful globally, to be operating on hydrogen.
The four-car commuter prepare is slated to reach in San Bernardino County this summer time after finishing testing at a federal facility in Colorado. Its electrical motors are powered by a mixture of batteries and gas cells, the latter of which convert hydrogen into electrical energy — emitting solely water vapor as they do, not the poisonous air pollution that diesel engines spew.
More hydrogen trains are quickly to comply with. Last yr, the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, signed an $80 million contract for 4 units of longer-distance fashions that may hyperlink cities within the Central Valley beginning in 2027. Swiss firm Stadler Rail, which has a manufacturing web site in Salt Lake City, is making models for each tasks.
“We suppose that is going to be one of the promising applied sciences for typical [rail] corridors in California,” mentioned Kyle Gradinger, assistant deputy director of rail transportation for Caltrans.
The fuel-cell trains might be hitting the rails at a pivotal but contentious time for hydrogen-powered transportation in California and past.
The Golden State has labored for many years to curb dangerous tailpipe emissions from diesel- and gasoline-burning engines in its smog-choked cities — a push that’s being replicated in additional than a dozen states. California has set more and more stringent insurance policies and invested billions of {dollars} over time to each spur growth and drive adoption of “zero-emission” applied sciences for automobiles, buses, vans, rail and heavy-duty cargo tools.
Today, the overwhelming majority of zero-emission automobiles use solely batteries. But the state’s tiny hydrogen-vehicle market lately obtained a big jolt from the Biden administration.
Late final yr, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $1.2 billion to California to ascertain one in every of seven “clear hydrogen hubs” nationwide, via a program created by 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In California, a lot of the funding might be directed towards accelerating heavy-duty hydrogen vans and constructing out the mandatory refueling infrastructure. Hydrogen trains and buses are likewise anticipated to proliferate as clear H2 provides develop into obtainable.
“We’re coming into a new period,” mentioned Lewis Fulton of the University of California–Davis, who’s chairing the transportation working group inside California’s hydrogen hub.
The regional hubs are additionally supposed to scrub up hydrogen manufacturing itself, given that just about all H2 as we speak is made with fossil fuel utilizing energy-intensive strategies. The lowest-carbon different is to make hydrogen utilizing water and renewable electrical energy via electrolysis, a course of that’s not but occurring at industrial scale.
As H2-vehicle market grows, so do enviro issues
Many questions nonetheless stay about whether or not hydrogen can, or ought to, play a outstanding function in decarbonizing floor transportation, notably the place different viable applied sciences — together with batteries for automobiles and direct electrification for trains — can be found as alternate options.
For now, hydrogen’s function within the sector is pretty restricted.
Only 15 heavy-duty fuel-cell vans have been deployed nationally as of June 2023, in comparison with greater than 17,700 battery-electric vans and cargo vans, in accordance with the newest rely by Calstart, a clear transportation group. Of the 5,500 zero-emission transit buses on the street in 2022, solely about 210 buses — or 4 % — used gas cells as an alternative of batteries, Calstart reported.
As for passenger automobiles, practically 3,000 fuel-cell automobiles have been bought within the United States in 2023. That pales compared to the file 1.2 million electrical automobiles that Americans purchased final yr, representing 7.6 % of the whole U.S. automobile market.
Still, the hydrogen-vehicle market is steadily increasing, buoyed by the raft of federal and state incentives, together with a $276 million funding program for hydrogen infrastructure in California.
Vehicle-maker Nikola Corp. mentioned it produced 42 hydrogen semi-trucks final yr, that are anticipated to hit the street quickly. Public transit businesses in California will possible order lots of extra hydrogen buses within the coming years as they work to satisfy state deadlines for reaching zero-emission operations. And, if all goes to plan with the primary hydrogen trains, Caltrans may order as much as 25 extra prepare units below its contract with Stadler Rail.
