Converted by ULEMCo to run on dual-fuel, allowing hydrogen to be burned directly in combination with diesel, the vehicle took to the streets of Aberdeen at the start of 2022, and according to the company, has saved the annual equivalent of around three tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions so far.

The sweeper project was announced in November 2020, where ULEMCo, JCB and Bucher Municipal joined forces to develop the hydrogen-powered vehicle. According to ULEMCo, the technology could reduce Aberdeen City Council’s carbon emissions by 30 tonnes a year, if applied to all its sweepers.

Read more: ULEMCo, JCB and Bucher develop hydrogen-powered road sweeper

Additionally, the firm estimates, if all 333 UK councils deployed the same dual-fuel hydrogen solution to just ten of their vehicles, a potential 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions could be cut.

H2 View understands the hydrogen commercial vehicle conversion company, believes by applying the technology to other vehicles for refuse collection, gritters and more, it could crack the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma for hydrogen deployment.

Councillor Jenny Laing, Leader of Aberdeen City Council, commented, “I would say to local authorities that are thinking about moving to hydrogen technology, that it not only helps you with the economic targets that you may have, but it will certainly help with the environmental targets that each and every local authority in Scotland has set themselves.”

Amanda Lyne, Managing Director of ULEMCo, said, “Given the need to start acting on climate change right away, it’s a case of the best being the enemy of the good.

“A lot of attention and public funding support is focussed on looking for zero emission solutions, but we cannot afford to wait for these to be commercially available, we must start transitioning to carbon-free energy using the full toolkit to achieve carbon dioxide reduction immediately.”

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