Germany launches world's first hydrogen-powered trains
Hydrogen trains are a promising way to decarbonize the railway sector and rely on diesel.
AFP
Germany has launched a new railway line entirely powered by hydrogen, in a "global precedent" that marks important progress towards decarbonizing trains, despite the challenges posed by this innovation.
A fleet of 14 trains provided by the French company "Alstom" for the region of Lower Saxony (north), will replace the current diesel trains on the approximately 100-kilometre railways linking the cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremerford and Buxthode.
"We are very proud to be able to use this technology in the commercial field, as part of a global precedent," said Henri Popard-Lafarge, General Manager of Alstom.
The trains were designed in Tarbes, in southern France, and assembled in Salzgitter, central Germany.
It was called Coradia iLint.
Hydrogen trains have become a promising way to decarbonize the railway sector and replace diesel, which still powers 20% of German transport.
And the transport company in Lower Saxony pointed out that the new fleet, which cost "93 million euros", will avoid the production of "4,400 tons of carbon dioxide every year."
Commercial flight trials have been carried out since 2018 on these railways on two hydrogen trains.
But now the entire fleet is using this technology.
The French group signed four contracts to supply dozens of trains with hydrogen in Germany, France and Italy, in the absence of any indication of a decline in demand.
Hydrogen trains are very suitable for small lines in regions, where the cost of transition to electricity is higher than the profitability of the line.
In these trains, the process of mixing hydrogen and oxygen from the surrounding air takes place, thanks to a fuel cell installed in the ceiling.
This process produces the electrical current needed to operate the train.
Currently, about 50% of regional trains in Europe run on diesel.
Alstom's competitors also entered the race to work on similar projects.
The German company "Siemens" revealed a prototype of the "Deutsche Bahn" train last May, with the aim of starting operation from 2024.
The manufacture of hydrogen may require chemical reactions that use carbon.
Therefore, experts consider that only "green hydrogen", which is made from renewable energies, is sustainable.
Other ways to manufacture hydrogen are more common, but they are made from fossil fuels, and thus emit greenhouse gases.
The trains of the Lower Saxony line will, in a first stage, use a by-product of hydrogen sourced from some industrial sectors such as the chemicals sector.
Hydrogen is derived from “95% of the conversion of fossil materials, about half of which comes from natural gas.”
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