This past year has been transformative for the fuel cell industry, with significant strides made toward reaching clean mobility at a global scale. From this time last year to today, our industry has achieved so much. Today, on National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, we celebrate the many industry milestones over the past year, and our own achievements here at Nuvera.

More Vehicles are Electrified by Fuel Cells

Fuel cell-powered transportation is our primary focus, and we are hard at work making that a reality for our customers and partners with our new Nuvera® E-45 fuel cell engine. We believe this can be a significant contributor to moving OEMs and the vehicles they build toward an emissions-free future. Our commitment to delivering an engine that can power trucks and buses is evident in the strides we have made with our 45 kW engine in the Chinese market.

Helping shape the conversation around motive applications in China, we participated in the 10th International China New Energy Vehicle Forum to discuss the diversified needs of the new energy automobile industry. Nuvera’s presentation addressed the demanding energy requirements of commercial vehicles and how we’re driving customer success through our innovative technology and integration support. Commercial vehicles must consistently meet demanding design and performance requirements of their owners and operators. Our team helps integrate Nuvera products into electric drivetrains and other systems in China and across the globe.

More Ports Embrace “Green Ports” Initiatives

In another corner of the globe, Nuvera also participated in f-cell+HFC Vancouver, a conference exploring solutions for clean energy with hydrogen and fuel cells as key players. Along with an engineer from the Big Truck Development Center of Hyster-Yale Group, we shared our mission to enable clean, limitless mobility driven by fuel cells at shipping ports. The presentation gave a first look at our continued work with California Air Resources Board to develop a Hyster® zero emission container handling truck for operation at the Port of Los Angeles. Port operations are increasingly turning to fuel cell innovation to reduce emissions and meet energy mandates.

More Progress Around Emission Policy

It’s equally important to reflect on the major industry wins that have brought the world a step closer to reaching carbon neutrality. For medium- and heavy-duty trucking, we’ve seen ambitious policies and movements unfold to make this transition away from fossil fuels possible. In June, California took a bold step by adopting a first-in-the-world rule requiring truck manufacturers to transition to zero-emission vehicles by 2045. This mandate is an important milestone that will help California reach its climate goals over the next two decades and sends a clear message to other governments, manufacturers, and fleet owners that the time to move toward more sustainable transportation is now.

The Multi-State Medium and Heavy-Duty Trucking Memorandum of Understanding is also an important movement, receiving support from 15 states and the District of Columbia (including our home state, Massachusetts) to accelerate the market for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. These states aim to reach at least 30 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.

These policies are important to solving the ongoing challenges for fuel cell viability and will encourage the development of much needed infrastructure.

More Stimulus to Power Hydrogen Adoption

Another significant movement greatly helping to address fuel cell challenges is the emergence of green recovery plans across the globe following the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only is hydrogen recognized as a solution to build a sustainable energy infrastructure, it is being leveraged for its job creation and economy-boosting potential. Countries around the world are building green recovery plans with hydrogen at the core and receiving unprecedented funding. Earlier in the year, the European Commission unveiled the “world’s greenest stimulus plan,” a roadmap to reach climate neutrality by 2050. This has encouraged other countries to follow suit and create similar stimulus plans. Additionally, companies worth a combined $2 trillion have come forward to voice support for these economic plans, further driving momentum behind this.

This shared commitment to pursuing fuel cells to decarbonize our future has successfully grown the green hydrogen project pipeline from 3.5GW to just over 15 GW over the past year. This has effectively solved some of the price hurdles facing hydrogen. The price of green hydrogen is expected to be cost-competitive with fossil fuels by 2040, according to research by Wood Mackenzie.

These examples only scratch the surface of the amazing achievements driving the clean transportation revolution. On Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, we encourage others to join in and recognize these and many other important milestones leading the world to climate neutrality.

Nuvera and its 20+ years of motive power experience delivers:

  • Unique fuel cell technology
  • Automated manufacturing and quality assurance
  • Applications assessment and analysis
  • Comprehensive integration support

Interested in learning more? Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to follow along with fuel cell highlights we are sharing this week and the many industry advancements to come.