28 Mar 08 14:40
ITM Power Plc, a fuel cell and electrolyser development company, and design/engineering group Roush Technologies Ltd have signed a co-operative agreement that 'could see carbon dioxide-free commercial vehicles being marketed in Britain within months.'
The two companies are to team up on a project to put hydrogen-powered vehicles on Britain's roads.
Roush is to work on solutions to convert existing internal-combustion petrol engines to run on hydrogen and on the development of all-new bespoke hydrogen-fuelled engines. The only by-product of burning hydrogen in an engine is water vapour.
ITM Power is developing hydrogen refuelling stations and a system whereby operators can generate their own hydrogen on-site by the electrolysis of water. An electrolyser system is to go into production in Sheffield later this year that can produce hydrogen from water using either off-peak or renewable-source electricity generated by wind, wave or solar power.
Although engines using hydrogen are already in production - BMW has made a small number of hydrogen-fuelled 7-Series saloons - and fuel cell cars (with on-board electrolysis to convert hydrogen fuel into electrical energy) are near to commercial reality, both solutions need a supply infrastructure for hydrogen.
ITM's CEO Jim Heathcote said: 'We are committed to bringing practical hydrogen power into the automotive market place within a dramatically reduced timeframe. Whilst [the project] initially involves the commercial vehicle sector, it will demonstrate the wider potential of hydrogen technology to help cut CO2 emissions and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.'
