I regularly see commuters on the London Underground standing on the platform and staring up at the screen that announces the time of the next train. Very often they have a look of irritation on their face. I understand what they’re thinking, I see them mouthing the words “four minutes” to their friends and shaking their heads in annoyance – why four minutes? Why the delay? Why not two minutes or one minute? Why isn’t it here right now? What’s more I share this irritation and frequently annoy friends, colleagues, and constituents in Yorkshire when I explain that this is a common reaction amongst Londoners. Such is the enviously high standard and regularity of public transport in London, and indeed much of the South of England, that these expectations are very reasonable. However, everyone in the rest of the country thinks, quite rightly, that they should have an equally efficient and reliable transport system. It is an ambition I share for this to be the expectation for commuters and travellers throughout the UK, not just in our capital city.
Convenient, reliable and safe public transport has long been regarded as a fundamental element of a civilised society. However, until the late 18th century humans the world over travelled on foot, or were pulled by horses, heavy loads went on the back of human beings or beasts of burden. Undoubtedly, the most efficient way of carrying goods and people was by the brilliant ships built in the ports and harbours based in our country. In global transportation terms, Britain certainly ruled the waves. On land, the challenges were much greater, but our clever engineers, such as James Brindley, were responsible for the revolutionary era of canal building, and 1770 – 1830 saw the ‘Golden Age’ of the highly profitable canal network in the UK. However, the brilliance of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his circle of engineers, the invention by George Stephenson of the steam engine, and the successful trial of Robert Stephenson’s Rocket in 1829, meant that the hapless investors in the canal network invariably lost their money as the rail network took over.
The 20th century ushered in the total dominance of the internal combustion engine fuelled by petroleum. In some countries, such as the United States, this convenient and personal mode of transport rapidly supplanted rail travel. In other countries, the process was slower and indeed happened in a much-reduced form – the railways still play a significant part in the transport system in many countries. The ubiquitous presence of the automobile, powered by fossil fuels – petrol and diesel – led to the creation of a massive worldwide search for oil reserves under land and, eventually, the sea. In the present century, as we become increasingly aware and concerned about climate change and global warming, reliance on fossil fuels becomes ever more problematic. However, our carbon-dependent economy has a powerful grip on modern mobility, whether it be passenger cars, or trucks and planes of every type. In recent times the alternative to petrol and diesel has been to switch to battery-operated vehicles and electric vehicles are becoming common on roads across the planet, with complex supply chains and shifts in production resulting in a radically reconfigured motoring manufacturing sector. Until recently, it seemed that batteries and electric cars would dominate the transport systems of the most advanced economies. But, just as the canal system was superseded by trains, it is becoming increasingly clear that batteries and electric vehicles may well be overtaken by a hydrogen-powered future which will dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and will deliver cleaner, less polluted air in our towns and cities.
Whilst the earliest and most successful hydrogen innovation has been in heavy vehicles due to the weight of batteries proving insurmountable, increasingly this technology is spreading to other vehicles. JCB in Staffordshire have already switched their heavy machinery to hydrogen and Northern Ireland-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus, who built the world’s first hydrogen-fuelled double decker, has received yet another order from Germany for a fleet of 12 of its zero-emissions Hydroliners. It’s not just transport and industrial vehicles, it’s also service vehicles – in February 2022 Aberdeen City Council added the UK’s first hydrogen fuel cell refuse truck to its fleet.
Many in the transport sector who have invested heavily in batteries, electric vehicles, and complex global supply chains, now worry that they are in the same place as those in the early canal industry. Those with vested interests will fight tooth and nail against hydrogen energy but as leading scientists and engineers tackle the challenge of providing cheap and green hydrogen, the future is, in my view, inevitable. The future is here, and it’s powered by hydrogen.