HYDROGEN AS A LONG-HAUL TRUCKING SOLUTION - Please join the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center for a discussion on using hydrogen for US long-haul trucking. During this discussion, experts examined key opportunities and challenges for long-haul trucking, including the Inflation Reduction Act, infrastructure, and equipment.

Economies of scale and path dependency have given batteries an edge over hydrogen fuel cells for most forms of transportation. Long-haul trucking accounts for 7 percent of U.S. transportation emissions but may not be suitable for current battery technology, however, due to technical factors.

Heavier vehicles require proportionately large batteries. Consequently, these batteries are heavier, which weighs – literally – on range, payload capacity, and freight economics. Refueling a hydrogen truck typically takes about ten minutes, while EV charging times often exceed half an hour.

Given these techno-economic factors, hydrogen fuel cell trucks may be more suitable for long-haul trucking routes, particularly on journeys with heavy payloads.

Hydrogen for long-haul trucking applications is also benefitting from an increased policymaking emphasis on reducing emissions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors. At the national level, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act provided huge incentives for hydrogen production – potentially ranging into the tens of billions of dollars. State level policymaking is also increasingly supportive, as California is providing fiscal incentives for zero-emissions vehicles and is moving forward to end the sale of fossil fuel-powered medium- and heavy-duty trucks by 2036.

Join us as we examine the opportunities – but also challenges – facing hydrogen for long-haul trucking.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 10/05/23