Hydrogen gathers more pace

With all the talk about plug-in hybrid and battery-electric cars lately, you could be forgiven for forgetting about hydrogen power.

Well, some of the world’s largest car-makers and suppliers haven’t forgotten about it, with 13 major corporations banding together to invest €10 billion ($A14.1b) over the next five years to develop hydrogen-powered products.

Toyota, BMW, Daimler, Honda and Hyundai are teaming up with traditional fossil-fuel companies like Royal Dutch Shell and Total to form a hydrogen council. Other members include gas suppliers Linde and Engie, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, rail company Alstom and mining company Anglo American.

The goal of the council is to push the benefits of hydrogen to both the public and to policy makers around the world to ensure it’s not forgotten in the push towards zero-emission vehicles.

In a statement issued from the Davos World Economic Forum, the group included cars, houses, utilities and industries as pollution sources that could benefit from a switch to hydrogen power.

“The world of energy is transforming very, very fast,” Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said. “Hydrogen has massive potential.”

Toyota and Hyundai both have production hydrogen-powered cars on their books already, while BMW and Daimler have had press drives of its hydrogen prototypes for more than 20 years.

While Toyota has finally moved battery-electric cars up its list of priorities, it has long insisted hydrogen fuel-cell cars were at the heart of its strategies for cutting emissions by 90 per cent by 2050.

“In addition to transportation, hydrogen has the potential to support our transition to a low-carbon society across multiple industries and the entire value chain,” Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota’s chairman and a council co-chair, said in the statement.