Recap: On the road with hydrogen trucks - H2 Booster event takes deep dive into hydrogen for road transport

POM Limburg organised the ‘On the road with hydrogen’ event at Thor Park in cooperation with the federation of Belgian transporters and logistics service providers ‘Febetra’. More than 40 transport companies, service station operators, interest groups and knowledge institutions from the logistics sector took a deep dive into the various fields of hydrogen in road transport. 

Energy shortage
The Meuse-Rhine region is facing a shortage of renewable energy. To initiate the energy transition, the region is forced to import green energy from regions where the sun shines more often and the wind is stronger. But hydrogen can also contribute to the success of that transition. “Not only the import of hydrogen, but certainly also the expansion of infrastructure is crucial for our region,” stresses Davine Janssen of WaterstofNet. That is why POM Limburg and Febetra organised the event ‘On the road with hydrogen’. Transporters, refuelling station operators, interest groups and knowledge institutions from the logistics sector took a deep dive into the various fields of hydrogen in road transport during the event.

Hydrogen trucks
In the coming years, the logistics sector needs to make the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable, renewable alternatives. “Hydrogen is the only sustainable solution for us today,” says Flip Bamelis of All Engineering. “An electric rubbish truck would have to carry six tonnes of batteries. Then there is simply no more room for a driver in the cabin.” Luc Haesaerts of Altrea picks up on this: “But switching to hydrogen overnight for 650 trucks is not a viable option at the moment. That’s why we are now starting work on trucks whose combustion engine can already run up to 80 per cent on hydrogen.”

10 tonnes of hydrogen per day
Altrea is far from the only transport company looking to take further steps towards sustainable road transport in the near future. A study by the European ENTRANCE project found that 50 per cent of transporters are planning an investment in sustainable vehicles within the next two years. Of these, 51 per cent said they would opt for hydrogen. “We estimate that by 2035 at least 10 tonnes of hydrogen will be needed per day in Limburg alone. And that is only for the conversion to hydrogen of international transport from our province,” adds Michaël Vannes of POM Limburg.

More photos and information (in Dutch).