Cummins Inc. is testing a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine in what is the company’s latest effort to "meet the energy and environmental needs of the future" in a world that experts say appears poised to shift away from fossil fuels.
The Columbus-based company said Tuesday it has begun proof-of-concept testing on an engine powered by green hydrogen fuel that would have near-zero carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Following the proof-of-concept testing, Cummins plans to evaluate the engine in a variety of on- and off-highway applications, the company said. Officials gave no indication of how long the testing would last, but expressed optimism that the company would be able to bring the engine to market.
“The hydrogen engine program can potentially expand the technology options available to achieve a more sustainable transport sector, complementing our capabilities in hydrogen fuel cell, battery electric and renewable natural gas powertrains,” said Jonathon White, Cummins vice president of engine business engineering, in a statement.
The announcement came as the push for vehicles powered by green hydrogen is starting to gain traction in the U.S., with companies around the world increasingly exploring the technology to reduce emissions from semi-trucks, trains, buses, power plants, among other applications.
Green hydrogen is produced by using renewable electricity to separate hydrogen atoms from oxygen atoms in water molecules, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The hydrogen can then be used, among other things, to power a wide range of vehicles outfitted with fuel cells.
The move shows that Cummins is looking beyond what the company is perhaps best known for — internal combustion diesel engines, said Roger Lee, senior research analyst with Columbus-based Kirr, Marbach and Co.
“They’re definitely staying on the leading edge of the clean energy frontier,” Lee said.
The announcement also came as the diesel industry finds itself at a crossroads of sorts, as alternative fuel technology grows in viability and concerns about climate change continue to reshape how companies and policy makers think about energy consumption.
Diesel fuel is refined from crude oil and is used to fuel compression-ignition engines named after their inventor, Rudolf Diesel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Most freight and delivery trucks, buses, farm and construction vehicles, as well as some cars and pick-up trucks, use diesel engines, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. In 2019, the U.S. transportation sector consumed about 47.2 billion gallons, or 1.1 billion barrels, of diesel fuel, which was roughly 15% of total U.S. petroleum consumption.
“When we think about the future, we see ourselves really straddling two points in time,” said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, in an earlier interview. “One is the world we are in today, which is a position of energy abundance, where the U.S. is a major producer of fossil fuels and really a net exporter of fossil fuels to the world. And we see aspirations for a clean energy future to address issues such as climate change.”
Several companies, including Cummins, has said they are preparing for that future. And how Cummins adapts could have major implications for Columbus given that the company is the largest employer in Bartholomew County, with about 8,000 employees in the Columbus area.
Earlier this year, Daimler Trucks — the world’s largest truck and bus maker and a company that Cummins has listed in federal filings as one of its “principal customers” — said it plans to shift most of its vehicle development resources to zero-emission vehicles by 2025.
The Germany-based automotive giant, with brands including Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz, is predicting that battery and hydrogen-powered trucks could be competitive with diesels on cost later this decade, The Associated Press reported.
Last year, Cummins unveiled plans for how it intends to ramp up its fuel cell and hydrogen production business in the coming years amid a global push to curb greenhouse gas emissions and avert the threat of catastrophic climate change.
The plans, which company officials outlined during a virtual conference in November, largely involve investing in and producing technology they believe will help the company secure its place in a world that is shifting away from fossil fuels.
Cummins expects green hydrogen to play an important role in cutting emissions in some of the industries that are most dependent on fossil fuels and now face strict climate targets in many countries.
And the company has announced plans to open a new facility in Germany that will initially make fuel cell systems for hydrogen-powered trains made by French rail manufacturer Alstom.
Cummins also said that it is working with Navistar International Corp. to develop a Class 8 truck powered by hydrogen fuel and cells and closed on a joint venture with Dutch company NPROXX to provide hydrogen and compressed natural gas storage products for on-highway and rail applications.
Last year, Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger said "Cummins is ready for a world in which hydrogen adoption accelerates and we’re well positioned to drive this change.”
“The cost of green hydrogen will decline as the scale develops,” Linebarger said. “This, in turn, will help enable the transition to fuel cells, given the lower cost and increased availability of hydrogen. This shift will require investment from the private sector and support from the public sector, both of which we are starting to see. Investment by companies such as Cummins is increasing, resulting in competitive technology that provides the building blocks for commercialization.”
In the U.S., California has taken the initiative and already built a “pretty robust” network of hydrogen fueling stations, Lee said, adding that the infrastructure for hydrogen-powered vehicles is likely to expand in the U.S. in the near future.
As of Tuesday, there were at least 106 hydrogen fueling stations that had been built, were under construction or going through the permitting process in California, mainly in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas, according to the California Fuel Cell Partnership, a collaboration between government and industry that aims to expand the market for hydrogen-powered electric vehicles.
“This isn’t a 20-year story,” Lee said. “This is likely a next-year story where we start seeing a significant build-out of hydrogen fuel stations across different cities in America, which would make vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells commercially viable for transporting goods.”
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For more on hydrogen-fueled technology, visit cummins.com.
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