A team of Australian engineers has made a significant breakthrough in the use of hydrogen in the carbon-heavy transport sector.
The team from the University of New South Wales has converted a traditional diesel engine to operate as a hydrogen-diesel hybrid, reducing CO2 emissions by more than 85%.
Online publication My Electric Sparks said the innovation “promises to revolutionise industries heavily reliance on diesel engines by offering a feasible and immediate path to significant emission reductions”.
Professor Shawn Kook and Professor Evatt Hawkes and their team took 18 months developing the system to run on 90% hydrogen.
“This new technology significantly reduces CO2 emissions from existing diesel engines, so it could play a big part in making our carbon footprint much smaller, especially in Australia with all our mining, agriculture, and other heavy industries where diesel engines are widely used,” Professor Kook was quoted as saying. “Retrofitting existing engines is much faster than waiting for new fuel cell systems to become commercially available.”
Full details on the development can be found here.
With Gold Hydrogen having found high levels of natural hydrogen in the Earth in South Australia, each new hydrogen development helps our cause.