The use of decarbonized hydrogen can be industrial, but its deployment in the context of the energy transition goes through mobility, all outlines: bus, utility vehicles, trains, boats and even bikes. Communities will play an essential role, because the toilet of hydrogen must be coupled with production. Inventory.
As we know, the advantages of hydrogen are autonomy, rapid recharge and engines that reject only … water! An absence of fine particles and carbon rejection particularly appreciable in urban areas, but also through our campaigns. Characteristics that should result in a craze for hydrogen vehicles. However, the almost ex nihilo development and the characteristics of hydrogen avitaling today involve the use of this energy vector by “captive” fleets. Not that hydrogen suffers from lack of autonomy, since, on the contrary, a “full” carried out in just a few minutes makes it possible to travel a distance comparable to that of diesel vehicles, but because, on the one hand, the number of stations is still too limited and that, on the other hand, these require special techniques.
The lightest molecule, the dihydrogen must be compressed* at 700 bars (or 350 bars) to provide a volume compatible with the dimensions of the current vehicle tanks. In addition, transport by tank is neither economically nor technically interesting. It is therefore necessary to carry out production by electrolysis on site. A hydrogen station must therefore integrate a production position and a compression position, with a cost of several hundred thousand euros.
On the other hand, at first, only fleets of vehicles or heavy transport machines (boat, TER) can justify a sufficiently large use of stations. These stations are of course adapted for the toilet of private vehicles, but, only a sufficiently large density (correlated with a drop in prices) would, in our opinion, in a second time to develop this market.
Hydrogen buses
Territorial initiatives are increasing in many areas. Generally, where there is a station is a mobility project carried out by a community or an industrialist.
Before finding in the following pages the projects selected during the call for projects launched by ADEME, we wanted to brush a range of initiatives (not exhaustive) which show the uses of hydrogen mobility.
The hydrogen buses without rejection, but with great autonomy, are on the front line. Pioneer in this area, the Pau-Pyrénées agglomeration community, labeled “Hydrogen territory” in 2016, has long planned the commissioning of a hydrogen bus line called Fébus. The van hool buses used are equipped with fuel cells from the Canadian Ballard; 174 kg of hydrogen per day will be necessary for the independent traffic of 6 buses on a Pau-Hôpital Gare axis. The electrolysis will be carried out on site from electricity from solar panels. For the Mixed Transport Syndicate Pau Béarn Pyrénées Mobilités, the choice of hydrogen bus is first zero emission, comfort of use and silence, but it is also the autonomy of more than a day and quick recharge. The Auxerrois community was also retained in the call for projects for 5 hydrogen buses. But it is in Houdain, in Pas-de-Calais, that the first 100 % French Businova hydrogen buses will now be used, with a peri-urban line inaugurated on June 21. These buses designed by the SAFRA company (an Albi company founded in 1955) have a fuel cell provided by Symbio (the hydrogen company bought by Michelin this year). In addition to the flexibility of their mechanical platform, these buses have the characteristic of having hydrogen tanks at 350 bars (and not at 700 bars). This certainly requires more volume, which is not a problem for vehicles of this size, but it simplifies the installation of tanks and ultimately reduces costs. The use of lower pressure is a way to study to reduce costs on large vehicles, because the tanks at 700 bars are expensive and technically more complex. The 4 cylindrical candies located on the pavilion and which contain 28 kg of hydrogen allow autonomy of more than 300 km. Regarding the abounding, McPhy provides electrolysers, whileie provides 100 % renewable guaranteed electricity.
The change of change
While 50 % of locomotives TER still operate in diesel, even if this mode of transport is five times less polluting than the individual car, the SNCF wishes to accelerate the deployment of the hydrogen train and provides for the commissioning of hydrogen TER from 2022 . An arrival that is part of the SNCF plane for the tightness of the railway and the exit of the diesel by 2035. The first TER tests for hydrogen, developed in parallel with hybrid ter and research on biofuels, are thus provided for in Course of the year 2021. Many regions are already interested in circulating hydrogen ter and, in particular, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Occitanie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Hauts -de-France.
Boats and trucks
Worn by the Varoise SME The Bateliers of the Côte d’Azur, a maritime hydrogen shuttle will be deployed in the Rade de Toulon and can embark up to 200 passengers.
The maritime links with the islands are indeed large consumers of fuel. Other managers, for example the Morbihan Departmental Council, are interested in the hydrogen boat, and many developments are underway in the maritime, river, fishing, passenger transport. Thus, carried by a consortium gathered around the CCI of the Var, the Mylovar initiative was retained by ADEME as part of its call for projects “Ecosystems of Hydrogen Mobility”.
Consisting of different bricks, this project provides in particular for the creation of a hydrogen maritime shuttle, the establishment of a hydrogen station with electrolyser, as well as infrastructure to pool land and sea applications.
Several projects are also underway concerning heavy goods vehicles, especially in the Marseille region. These are vehicles well suited to hydrogen, especially those of delivery over the last kilometers, with Crit’Air standards brought to harden … In an urban setting, hydrogen is also conducive to special vehicles of the Benne type by garbage.
Seen, vl, taxis
Large actors of delivery share orders for hundreds of hydrogen utility vehicles. DHL has announced its cooperation with the German manufacturer StreetScooter for the development of the H2 Panel Van, a van with a fuel cell for a range of 500 km and a load of more than 10 m³.
PSA is also interested in this sector and announces a range of hydrogen utilities from 2021 for professional fleets. As for Symbio, he thinks of putting his batteries in fuel in utility vehicles, light vehicles and heavy goods vehicles.
Regarding taxis, it is Hysetco, an alliance made up of the hype, Toyota, Idex and Air Liquide taxi company, which wants to democratize hydrogen taxis with a project of 600 vehicles in Paris from The end of 2020. Hype (Parisian electric taxis company) already has a hundred vehicles and four load stations (notably in Orly and Roissy), two others being in project. Hysetco’s objective is to equip all taxis and VTC with this technology. Before the 2024 Olympics?
In the light vehicle category, there is an expansion of the offer. Three manufacturers each market each a hydrogen fuel model each. Hyundai opened the ball in 2015, with the IX35 SUV, now replaced by the Nexo (4.67 m, 163 hp, € 72,000) and Toyota offers Mirai (4.89 m, 154 hp, € 78,900) . Honda markets the Clarity sedan (4.91 m, 176 hp), which is not currently available in Europe. In 2021, Toyota and Hyundai provided an annual production of 30,000 hydrogen cars. Peugeot is interested in the sector while Audi and BMW will launch, in turn, a standard model. However, private vehicles will not develop before a sufficient number of stations is available.
The multi -year energy programming (PPE) plans to go from around twenty stations in 2018 to 100 stations in 2023, then between 400 and 1,000 stations in 2028. The development of hydrogen charging stations will continue according to logic Said “captive fleets”, which consists in helping the deployment of stations near the actors who choose hydrogen. Thus, the hydrogen deployment plan aims to create territorial hydrogen mobility ecosystems on the basis in particular of fleets of professional vehicles. But reality could exceed forecasts. In parallel, the sector, united with Hydrogen Mobility France, a specialized consortium of AFHYPAC, defined a deployment plan deemed realistic of 250 stations and 120,000 vehicles by 2024, then 600 stations and 800,000 vehicles at the ‘Horizon 2030. It is also based on the approach of captive fleets.
* We do not mention here the liquefaction at – 253 ° C, reserved for very rare uses.
