Bud the spud’s big hydrogen rig, fuelling at the station, smiling

As overshadowed by batteries as curling is by hockey, hydrogen fuel cells have become topical as governments have shifted from incremental climate policies to net zero targets. For the benefit of casual onlookers, 2022 is for hydrogen fuel cells what 1982 was for cellphones: the start of meteoric growth and worldwide adoption for a comprehensively transformative new industry. Scandinavia reaped generational dividends from its early mobile telecommunications leadership; even today Ericcson and Nokia employ almost 200,000 people worldwide. With hydrogen fuel cells Canada can do the same. Scandinavia’s success wasn’t without pain or patience—Finland began supporting Nokia’s cellular communications research in the mid-1960s—but who today would argue those down payments weren’t worth the dividends they’ve brought? Under everyone’s radar the Canadian hydrogen fuel cell cluster has now shipped product to 42 countries from Australia to Vietnam encompassing 65 per cent of the world population. Our Ericssons and Nokias go by different names—Ballard Power, Hydrogenics (now a division of Cummins) and Unilia—and have yet to grow into the titans they can become. Now is the time to help them do so. Batteries as Exoskeletons, Fuel Cells as Endoskeletons Hydrogen fuel cell and battery technologies are complementary cousins whose interrelationship is best understood with a nature analogy. Small animals tend to have exoskeletons: exterior skeletons, like those of beetles or shellfish. At these sizes exoskeletons offer unbeatable strength and performance, but their advantages break down as creatures get larger. From housecats on upwards, almost all animals are vertebrates; they have endoskeletons, or interior skeletons. In transportation batteries are expected to dominate smaller vehicles, from e-bikes through to passenger cars and even some buses and trucks. Hydrogen fuel cells are expected to dominate heavy duty transport, ranging from trucks and locomotives to mining vehicles, marine vessels and aircraft. The United States National Renewable Energy Laboratories’ (NREL) recent conclusion that fuel cell vehicles would offer lower TCO than battery vehicles across the freight trucking spectrum in a 24/7 world is a typical finding. This doesn’t negate that battery-electric vehicles are excellent in some heavier applications, and that hydrogen fuel cells will power some smaller ones too. Just as McDonald’s offers the filet-o-fish as a beef/chicken alternative, there will be battery-electric mining trucks and hydrogen fuel cell cars as well. Rolling out for Bud the Spud While electricity is everywhere, hydrogen fueling is in its inception; there are all of five public stations across Canada. It’s not unlike the ubiquitous landlines and all but non-existent cellphone networks of the early 1980s. It wasn’t until Canada Day 1985 that our country’s first cellphone call was made, by which point Nokia and Ericsson had cemented their early lead. It took decades to build out Canada’s cellphone coverage; we can move faster with hydrogen fueling to enjoy its commercial and climate benefits. Building on the federal government’s Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Association envisions 30 hydrogen hubs operating across the country by 2030, scaling up production, collapsing clean hydrogen costs and undercutting polluting alternatives. This would allow fueling stations, in the words of eastern wisdom, to be strung across Canada as pearls on a thread. Bud the Spud could then drive from Charlottetown or from Summerside, go ripping the tar off the 401, and Roll on Saskatchewan to his Home on the Fraser, delivering “the best dog gone potatoes that’s ever been growed”. He could moreover do so more comfortably, cleanly, quietly and in time more cheaply than he could in Stompin’ Tom Connors’ era. Government confidence in infrastructure—for down payments on generational dividends—would allow our members companies who power more than 5,000 hydrogen fuel cell buses and trucks abroad to repeat the achievement here, even as they forge ahead worldwide. So the Association strongly urges our federal and provincial governments to invest decisively in our reinvented-in-Canada technology. Canada may lose singers and sports athletes to larger markets, but we attract STEM talent when and where we choose to lead. For our own part as the public and private sectors map their hydrogen futures, not just in trucking but beyond, the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association and its members stand as ready sherpas. Together we can make the journey to a Net Zero of unpolluting prosperity for Canadians across coasts, communities and country. Matthew Klippenstein P.Eng. is the regional manager, Western Canada, for the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association. His career has spanned hydrogen fuel cells and renewable energy consulting, and he administered and led outreach for British Columbia’s pioneering EV charger rebate program for multi-unit buildings such as apartments and townhouses. The Hill Times