Letter: I Don’t Think Hydrogen Is the Answer

Published on: 2 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 2 Sep, 2026

From Patrick Bray

In response to: Does Hydrogen Offer a Less Road Damaging Option?

Hydrogen as a road fuel has some serious drawbacks. The production of hydrogen is expensive and can be very dirty. Green, blue or pink (yep they went through the rainbow!) is typically expensive to produce. Use of renewables between grid load doesn’t seem to be viable due to construction costs.

Secondly the energy density of hydrogen is challenging requiring large volumes and heavy containment systems. The issues with the fuel don’t stop there either, hydrogen is inherently hard to store because it is a small atom and diffuses easily into and through materials.

We have little to no hydrogen infrastructure so operating a fleet would require the construction of a refuelling point.

If the hydrogen is then combusted in an engine then typically that engine will have maintenance requirements no better than a diesel plant. Liquid ammonia is one approach to solving some of these issues, but handling is hazardous. I’d rather get splashed with petrol – even when smoking!

I’m not a fan of our current approach to electric vehicles – but I don’t think hydrogen is the answer.

Battery technology is improving and I hope one day will make exchangeable batteries a reality – at that point electric vehicles will be a far more practicable option – including for those without driveways.

I think all options should be examined but I’m not sure this is the answer for the council’s vehicle fleet.

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