Interesting article in The Times yesterday16 Jul 2024 09:20
I'm a holder here and see a bright future for hydrogen and ITM, so not trying to drive share price down. However worth seeing all angles and reading this article posted yesterday and today in the Times.
Olympic ‘green’ cars are no such thing, say scientists.
A Cambridge professor leads criticism of the decision to use the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai to ferry athletes at the Paris Games, More than 100 scientists have criticised the choice of hydrogen-powered cars to transport athletes at the Paris Olympics, saying they are nothing like as environmentally friendly as claimed.
Hydrogen is being touted by Toyota, which is supplying the cars, and by the Paris 2024 organising committee as a green fuel that will ensure C02-free rides for the athletes as they are whisked past the traffic in the French capital in special “Olympic lanes” that opened on Monday. The lanes can only be used by vehicles accredited for the Olympics.
But in an open letter the scientists, led by David Cebon, professor of mechanical engineering at Cambridge University, said that the decision to use Toyota Mirai cars “will damage the reputation of the 2024 Games”.
The Japanese manufacturer will deliver more than 2,650 vehicles to carry athletes and officials at the Olympics, which start this month, with the organising committee saying it wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by comparison with the 2012 London or 2016 Rio games.
Most will be electric vehicles but there will also be 500 Toyota Mirais. They emit no CO2 while on the road, and those used at the Olympics will run on green hydrogen, which is produced with renewable energy.
But the letter is critical of the Mirais. It says that green hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles “require three times more renewable electricity than equivalent battery electric vehicles.” The letter also argues that green hydrogen accounts for only a tiny fraction of the total. About 99 per cent of hydrogen today “is made from fossil fuels without carbon capture and storage, and consequently the global hydrogen market currently emits approximately the same emissions as the global aviation industry”, the letter says.
The letter adds: “Hydrogen cars are not a viable net zero solution. Because of the high cost and poor availability of fuel, sales of hydrogen cars are in rapid global decline.”
Cebon said that the use of hydrogen cars at the Olympics was a “cynical” move by Toyota, which has invested heavily in the technology.
The letter also takes a pot shot at hydrogen buses, which it says are more environmentally damaging than their diesel counterparts.
Toyota said that hydrogen vehicles, which have greater autonomy than electric ones, can be part of the “mix” in the move away from petrol driven engines.
H2 Today, a website created by a hydrogen consultancy, described the criticism as “absurd” and Cebon as “not particularly qualified in the field of hydrogen”.
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