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Could hydrogen be the mainstay of new technologies for carbon neutrality?

Updated: Sep 14, 2022

There are many new technologies for a carbon neutral mobility future. At the upcoming FISITA World Mobility Summit, Dr. Erik Schuenemann, Director for Systems Engineering Powertrain at Bosch will make the case for hydrogen engine powertrains.

Hydrogen has been hailed as a key to a clean energy future. It can be produced from a variety of energy sources and is an important energy carrier – for example, it is the perfect carrier for solar energy in that it affords solar energy a storage medium.

Efforts are underway to transform the global transportation energy economy from one dependent on oil to that based on sustainable hydrogen. The rationale behind these efforts is that hydrocarbon-based vehicles are a significant source of air pollution, while hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles effectively produce zero emissions.

Hydrogen can be produced from renewable electricity, can be stored and transported in gaseous or liquid state as well as using hydrogen derivatives. Clearly, hydrogen will contribute to well-to-wheel and life cycle carbon neutral solutions for future mobility.

Important automotive markets such as China, the US, EU, Korea and Japan have already begun and will accelerate the build-up of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. Following a technology open approach, and complementary to fuel cells, hydrogen engine powertrains are considered an attractive solution.

For Dr. Schuenemann, there is a clear path to accelerate the roll-out of this technology:

“Potential starting points could be commercial vehicle applications, where high load operation, long driving distances as well as short refuelling times are important. Next up could be light commercial vehicles, especially for fleet applications where a fully developed hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is not required.

With further development of the refuelling station network, hydrogen engine powertrains could be attractive for passenger car applications too.”

His presentation will focus on hydrogen engine applications, powertrain topologies and operating strategies. Dr. Schuenemann will also consider subsystems and components such as fuel injection and exhaust gas treatment. He will discuss results which demonstrate the feasibility and positive characteristics of hydrogen engine powertrains for future mobility.

To share your perspective, join technical leaders from the world’s leading automotive and mobility brands on 17 October in Paris - register now for the World Mobility Summit!

Position your organisation at the heart of this exclusive gathering of mobility leaders with one of our sponsorship or advertising opportunities here. To showcase alongside brands including Gold Sponsor AVL, contact the FISITA Sales Team via sales@fisita.com for more detail.

The FISITA World Mobility Summit 2021 focused on ‘Workplace Evolution’ – the resulting Output Paper comprising contributions from last year’s line-up of technology leaders is now available here. For a code enabling open access, members should contact:

Keen to learn more about carbon neutral technologies? Join FISITA at our Technology Discussion on Carbon Capture and Utilisation on 22 September, online.

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