Hydrogen car hits the streets

A zero-emission, hydrogen-powered car has arrived on Birmingham University campus as part of the Science City Hydrogen energy project to discover how hydrogen powered cars might replace diesel and petrol vehicles.

The hydrogen car will be part of a fleet of five cars which will replace some of the university's own fleet of vehicles so that engineering researchers can learn more about their efficiency and cost effectiveness.

New technologies such as this often face uncertainties at the commercialisation stage and they can also have a higher initial cost. Until they become more competitive on cost, it is difficult to put these new technologies into production on a larger scale.  Prof Kevin Kendall, lead investigator from the Department of Chemical Engineering, is hoping to combat this problem.

'By comparing the hydrogen powered vehicles directly with the university's petrol and diesel fleet, we can find out how vehicles will need to be adapted to make hydrogen an attractive and cost effective option as a future fuel,' he said.