Business SA releases roadmap towards hydrogen vehicle adoption

South Australia could become one of the country's leading states for hydrogen adoption as its vehicle fleet looks towards achieving zero emissions.

In the lead up to the state's election next March, advocacy group Business SA has released a roadmap for its post-COVID economic strategy, with hydrogen set to be one of the centrepieces.

As first reported by Cosmos Magazine, the Business SA Pre-Election Charter22 report outlines the ways which hydrogen can be utilised to reduce emissions across the State Government's fleet of vehicles, starting out with its current diesel buses.

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Business SA CEO Martin Haese said utilising hydrogen in public transport would be beneficial to the domestic economy as well as the local environment.

“The State Government can provide public sector leadership through having a 100 per cent hydrogen-powered bus fleet for a city which already leads the world in renewable energy uptake,” said Haese.

“It would be a little bit of an anomaly if we were running a diesel bus fleet for much longer. Hydrogen is a good example of building a domestic industry through domestic consumption.

“If the public transport fleet has to run on hydrogen, it’s quieter and cleaner. But it’s also a great way to seed a domestic industry that can expand to provide clean, cost-effective energy to local businesses.”

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However, Macquarie University energy economics lecturer Dr Lurion De Mello disagrees, saying the high amount of hydrogen supply isn't yet being met by demand.

“I think there are too many countries trying to produce hydrogen at the moment, and there are not enough countries who are planning to utilise it," said Dr De Mello.

“There are so many technical problems with hydrogen – how you transport it, how you store it, how you supply it.

"Zero emissions from vehicle exhausts give hydrogen a clean and green image in the eyes of shareholders. But making green hydrogen and distributing it is so problematic and expensive that it’s probably better to just turn all the renewable energy involved into electricity.

“We should be using H2 for things that cannot be electrified, and not for transportation.”

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The Transport NSW electric buses, set to be rolled out this month

Australia currently has two hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on sale, the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo, both of which have been trading records for the longest driving range on a single tank – with the title currently held by Toyota at 1360 kilometres.

Transport NSW announced today it will soon be rolling out electric buses as part of its Sydney fleet, with the 40 vehicles becoming the first zero-emission transporters of their kind to be used in Australia.