BRIEFING: The future for hydrogen in automotive transportation

Ten years ago, the dream of a hydrogen economy, with hydrogen used to power vehicles and homes, was 10-20 years away. Ten years later and a hydrogen economy is still decades away. Despite advances in fuel-cell technology development and a raised awareness of the need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, barriers to a hydrogen economy remain – not least the lack of a viable hydrogen supply infrastructure and concerns over the well-to-wheel benefits of hydrogen. This month's briefing looks at how realistic a short-term adoption of auto hydrogen power is, reviewing what the key manufacturers are working on, Government policy and which markets might be closer to reality than we think.