As signs of climate change continue to worsen around the world, many have developed strategies to reduce carbon emissions. Electric vehicles are increasingly present in many markets, others have pushed for the adoption of hydrogen. France, in particular, is pushing strongly in this direction.
At current stages of development, electric vehicles are more practical than they have ever been. Cost parity, particularly in Europe, also makes it easier for motorists to choose between electric and internal combustion vehicles.
While these vehicle segments are important, they are not the only areas where carbon emissions are an issue. Motorcycles present their own challenges when it comes to clean, efficient and affordable forms of energy. Likewise, heavy equipment – think construction vehicles, trucks and trains, to name three examples – is not currently an area where electrification is being practiced.
This is one of the areas where the EU is pushing for hydrogen adoption. For those unfamiliar with how hydrogen works in vehicles, it is currently stored in its gaseous form and then undergoes a process of separating electrons and ions to generate energy. The only residue from the energy produced is water, which makes it pretty easy to see why this would be attractive to someone looking for a cleaner form of energy.
While it is technically possible to produce “green hydrogen,” it is also currently the most expensive way to do so. In a perfect world, this green process uses only renewable energy (solar and wind power) to electrolyze water (separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms) and recover the hydrogen.
However, there are several ways to produce hydrogen, and currently, all methods used result in the creation of varying degrees of carbon emissions. These are also all currently the cheapest options for producing it.
Now let's return to the divergent journey of alternative fuel motorcycles in France. While electric motorcycles have taken off across Europe since emissions regulations tightened, France has also seen developments of hydrogen hybrid vehicles like the Mob-Ion TGT. In fact, in 2020, as part of the French government's post-pandemic recovery, it announced plans to invest €2 billion in the development of the hydrogen sector over the next two years alone – and a total of 7 billion euros by 2030.
Clearly, it's not just scooters and motorbikes roaming the French countryside. Instead, France's plans address a broader range of emissions reduction opportunities than just motor vehicles of any type. Projects to explore hydrogen for various industrial applications, such as steel and concrete manufacturing, are also in the pipeline.
As with the electric vehicle debate regarding touchy topics such as harmful mining processes to extract the necessary precious metals, not to mention the recycling and recovery of an end-of-life battery and/or vehicle , hydrogen's potential carbon neutrality comes with its own set of caveats. If France – and anyone else looking to use hydrogen on a large scale – can commit to green hydrogen production, it will be a boon for carbon emissions targets. But today it is not impossible that this challenge cannot be met.
