I have just received a big press release from Ken Livingstone on hydrogen fuel buses which are going to save the day. Apparently, London will be getting the biggest fleet in the world – just 10 by the way – of these buses helping reduce the carbon footprint of the bus fleet.
Ken is then quoted as saying: “Hydrogen is a fuel of the future as it improves air quality and does not produce the harmful emissions which are causing catastrophic climate change”. But that is clearly patent nonsense. Hydrogen is not really a fuel, but a means of transmitting energy. Producing the hydrogen requires electricity and, at the moment, far more energy is used in making the hydrogen than is used in conventionally powered vehicles. So while there will be a reduction in pollution in the town centre, that is simply displaced elsewehere to the plant producing the hydrogen.
Yes, perhaps ultimately cheap and non-polluting ways of producing hydrogen will be discovered. But we are nowhere near that and organisations like Transport for London should not be putting out misleading press releases on its impact on the environment.
