Germany bets on hydrogen to help cut trucking emissions

German firms are betting that hydrogen has a role to play in slashing road transport emissions, alongside battery-powered electric vehicles

Applause rings out as Daimler Truck’s hydrogen-powered, zero-emission lorry crosses the finish line in Berlin after completing a record-breaking 1,047-kilometre (650 mile) journey on a single tank.

But in the race to decarbonise long-haul trucking, the niche technology is still stuck in the slow lane.

The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 truck started its demonstration run at the group’s factory in Woerth am Rhein on Monday afternoon, near the border with France, and arrived in the German capital on Tuesday morning.

The prototype truck made the trip fully loaded on only one fill of liquid hydrogen, similar to what a diesel-powered truck can do.

Unlike planet-warming diesel however, the hydrogen fuel cell technology used in the truck emits only water vapour.

“You’re showing that a heavy load can be transported over a long distance in a sustainable manner,” Petra Dick-Walther, state secretary for economic affairs in Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate region, said at the departure ceremony.

Germany’s Daimler Truck, one of the world’s biggest truckmakers, said the feat of cracking the 1000-kilometre range marked “another milestone” for hydrogen-powered driving.