The arrival of hydrogen cars on UK roads is a step closer as the Business Minister Matthew Hancock announced up to £11 million (USD 17.7 m) of funding for hydrogen refueling infrastructure and roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
The £11 million investment will help establish an initial network of up to 15 hydrogen refuelling stations by the end of 2015, and include £2 million of funding for public sector hydrogen vehicles.
This is part of the UK government’s drive to become a global leader in ultra-low emission vehicles and follows news earlier this month (October 2014) that Toyota has chosen the UK as one of the first markets for its FCEV when it goes on sale next year.
Of the £11 million announced today (9 October 2014), £7.5 million will come from government and £3.5 million from industry:
- £2 million of top-up funding to upgrade 6 to 8 existing hydrogen refuelling stations (already operational or under development in the UK) and take them from demonstrator projects to publically accessible sites
- £3.5 million of funding to be matched by industry for 4 to 7 new hydrogen refuelling stations. This will include mobile stations as well as those on stand-alone sites and integrated into conventional petrol forecourts
- £2 million of funding for public sector fleets to encourage deployment of around 40 hydrogen FCEVs in focused geographical clusters.
Speaking in Japan where he met executives at Honda, Nissan and Toyota, Mr Hancock said: “Hydrogen cars present us with a huge economic opportunity and can bolster our internationally renowned automotive industry. We want to make the UK one of the best places in the world to design, manufacture and sell ultra-low emission vehicles.”
Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier. When used as fuel in fuel cell systems it does not produce any carbon emissions (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons or particulates). Therefore, using hydrogen will contribute to the improvement of air quality and the reduction of CO2.
(Source: UK Government)
