UK-based chemicals giant Ineos has doubled down on its two-billion euro (NZ$3.2b) investment in green hydrogen with the launch of an advocacy campaign.
Founder and chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe started the initiative with an editorial on the hydrogen economy for the Sunday Telegraph and this is followed by a national multi-media campaign that includes substantial billboard and digital advertising as well as a hydrogen bus exhibition tour and a hydrogen car display in Glasgow at COP26 (the UN Climate Change Conference, October 31-November 12).
“We believe that hydrogen is the fuel of the future and Ineos is determined to take a leading role in its development,” Ratcliffe says.
“Electric cars are ideal for city centres and short journeys. But hydrogen is much better for longer journeys and heavier loads and that requires immediate investment in hydrogen distribution and hydrogen filling stations,” he adds.
“When used in a fuel cell, hydrogen only produces water and is the UK’s best chance of reaching its carbon reduction targets.”
Ineos is Europe’s biggest operator of electrolysis needed to produce clean, low carbon hydrogen for power generation, transportation and industrial use, producing and using 400,000 tonnes of low carbon hydrogen annually – the equivalent of replacing up to two billion litres of diesel.
And Ineos Automotive is exploring new hydrogen opportunities, with a hydrogen fuel cell demonstrator of its Grenadier 4×4 now in development.
The Grenadier hydrogen fuel cell concept will use fuel cell technology from Hyundai Motor Company, with testing to begin by the end of 2022.
Ratcliffe provides a warning for the UK government.
“The issue is that industry can only do so much, and the UK government must start to invest in the development of our hydrogen infrastructure to allow the gas to be much more widely used,” he says.
“At the moment, we are massively lagging behind Europe and the gap is starting to grow.”
