How Clean Is Hydrogen For Powering Cars & Buses?

Dear Mr Willcock

Thank you for your further correspondence on 6 October 2022 regarding hydrogen buses.

West Midlands Combined Authority, through Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), has set a target for a 100% zero emission bus fleet by 2030, as expressed in the West Midlands Bus Service Improvement Plan. Additionally, we want the West Midlands to be the fastest city region to transition to zero emission, with the aim of having 750 zero emission buses on the road by 2025. The Department for Transport has, through its Zero Emission Bus Test Certificate, set certain standards around what qualifies as a zero-emission bus, with these being buses which:

• Have no combustion engines on-board (including diesel heaters);
• Produce no regulated emissions from the tailpipe(s); and
• Achieve a 50% well-to-wheel greenhouse gas saving compared to a conventional Euro VI diesel over the UK Bus Cycle

The zero-emission bus definition, testing and certification regime means that in practice, battery electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric drivetrains must be used. The Government’s National Bus Strategy (p. 73) encourages local authorities to take a technology-agnostic approach to bus decarbonisation, with bus operators leading on development of technical specifications to meet their operational needs. TfWM will therefore consider both battery electric and hydrogen fuel-cell technology fairly and is not promoting one over the other.

The submission to Government that resulted in the award of grant funding was developed in partnership with National Express West Midlands. The company carried out detailed analysis of the energy requirements for all its routes and hydrogen fuel-cell was identified as the most appropriate technology for the fleet at Walsall depot. The average daily kilometres per bus at Walsall depot is 210km with some duty cycles of over 400km per day. The latest battery electric buses on the market can operate 220-280km per day so would be unsuitable for a large number of routes at this depot. Otherwise, significant on-street opportunity charging infrastructure would be required, or extra buses would need to be acquired to maintain the same level of service. The higher up-front cost of hydrogen fuel-cell buses compared to electric buses therefore is largely offset by the savings made from avoiding the need for significant supporting infrastructure or additional buses. Hydrogen production costs are currently high but are expected to fall significantly in the coming years, with Government supporting early uptake of hydrogen through its Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.

The Government’s Hydrogen Strategy notes (p. 64) that hydrogen “is likely to be fundamental to achieving net zero in transport, potentially complementing electrification across modes of transport such as buses, trains and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).” We expect this to be the case in the West Midlands bus fleet, with hydrogen used on some of the more difficult-to-decarbonise bus routes, such as those operated from Walsall garage. You may be aware of the Coventry All Electric Bus City project, also being developed by TfWM, where an all-electric solution was identified as the most appropriate technology for that part of the bus network.

In summary, TfWM is committed to achieving a 100% zero emission bus fleet by 2030 and will work with the region’s bus operators to support them in transitioning their fleets, with battery electric and hydrogen being considered fairly.

Thank you for contacting TfWM.

Kind regards

Steven Toddington

Customer Relations Executive