ROME – Westport Fuel Systems, a Canadian company leader in technologies for powering engines with alternative fuels, is launching a challenge to electric traction with batteries and hydrogen fuel cells in the race to zero emissions in heavy transport. The Westport H2 Hpdi power supply technology, already tested on the road in North America and shown to the European authorities immediately after the presentation at the recent Hanover show, allows current truck engines to be powered with hydrogen, almost totally reducing emissions without the need for an epochal change of the entire industrial system and of the fuel distribution network.
The new fuel system is derived from the HPDI technology, already commercially widespread for powering industrial vehicles with LNG – liquefied natural gas, a fuel that allows for a significant reduction in emissions compared to diesel.
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According to data provided by Westport Fuel Systems, the transition to hydrogen fueling with the H2 Hpdi solution allows the internal combustion engine of a truck to have 20% more power, 15% more torque and a 10% higher efficiency than the diesel version. Numbers of great interest, which go together with the almost zero reduction of CO2 emissions. A third way, that of hydrogen fueling of internal combustion engines, which according to Westport should absolutely not be underestimated in comparison with electric batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. The two currently most accredited ways to achieve sustainability in the heavy road transport sector are both based on the total electrification of traction and therefore require a complete reconversion of the vehicle production chain. In the case of electric batteries, in particular, the total transformation into a recharging infrastructure is also necessary for the supply network.
“The hydrogen fueling of internal combustion engines thanks to the H2 HPDI technology – declares David Johnson, number one of Westport Fuel Systems – allows to improve the performance of industrial vehicles compared to diesel and lower the decarbonisation costs borne by society. We therefore hope that the European Commission and the member states can boost the spread of green hydrogen, also supporting its use in transport”.
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Johnson’s statements are a clear invitation not to focus only on electric vehicles for heavy road transport, as is the case for cars. Furthermore, in the calculation of life cycle emissions and associated costs to society presented by Westport Fuel Systems, hydrogen fueling of internal combustion engine trucks is also competitive with conversion to hydrogen with fuel cells. Crucial to obtaining this socio-economic, as well as environmental, result is the fact that the production system for traction technologies based on the internal combustion engine already exists and does not require large conversion costs for the adoption of the new fuel.