- The Hydrogen Energy Association wants hydrogen used alongside batteries in demanding HGV, construction, commercial fleet and specialist rail applications.
- Its proposals include coordinated vehicle and refuelling support and recognition of hydrogen combustion engines in future zero-emission rules.
- Claims of £46 billion in annual economic value and 410,000 jobs relate to an economy-wide 2050 scenario, not a forecast of benefits from transport policy alone.
The UK government should retain a targeted role for hydrogen in land transport where battery-electric vehicles cannot meet operational requirements, according to a report from the Hydrogen Energy Association.
The trade body argues that hydrogen fuel cells and combustion engines could complement batteries in long-distance heavy goods vehicles, high-utilisation commercial fleets, construction machinery and specialist rail applications.
Its report, Hydrogen’s Role in Land Transport Decarbonisation, uses ten case studies to argue that a technology-neutral approach would prevent the UK from excluding applications where payload, range, refuelling time or access to grid infrastructure makes direct electrification difficult.
The association calls for government departments to coordinate vehicle incentives, infrastructure policy and fuel production support. It also wants hydrogen combustion engines to be explicitly recognised within the UK’s future zero-emission vehicle framework, aligning the country more closely with EU treatment of low-carbon heavy vehicles.
“The UK has a real opportunity to lead in hydrogen for land transport, but we are at risk of falling behind,” said Amanda Lyne, chair of the association’s land transport working group and managing director of hydrogen engine specialist ULEMCo.
The report was presented to officials from the Department for Transport, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Treasury. It comes as Britain’s approach to zero-emission heavy vehicles remains less settled than its policy for passenger cars.
The government is supporting a five-year demonstration of more than 300 battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell HGVs, accompanied by charging and refuelling infrastructure. Evidence from the programme is intended to help determine which technologies are most suitable for vehicles weighing between 40 and 44 tonnes.
The Climate Change Committee’s central Seventh Carbon Budget pathway assumes battery-electric technology will eventually dominate all HGV categories. But it also acknowledges uncertainty around some long-distance and unusually heavy operations, particularly where UK vehicles must work across European transport networks.
Efficiency remains hydrogen’s principal disadvantage. The International Energy Agency estimates that battery-electric heavy trucks can use energy around 55% more efficiently than diesel equivalents, compared with approximately 30% for fuel cell vehicles. Producing, compressing, transporting and converting hydrogen creates losses that direct electrification avoids.
Hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations are also expensive at low utilisation. A nationwide network constructed ahead of demand could impose substantial costs while stations wait for a viable customer base. Concentrating early infrastructure around ports, freight corridors, depots and industrial clusters would reduce that risk.
The case for hydrogen is stronger where vehicles cannot tolerate lengthy charging stops or where large battery packs would reduce payload. Fuel-cell trucks can be refuelled quickly and may provide longer range, while combustion engines could allow manufacturers to adapt familiar equipment. Hydrogen combustion still produces nitrogen oxides and is less efficient than fuel cells, however, meaning its regulatory classification requires careful treatment.
The association says capturing 10% of the global hydrogen technology market by 2050 could generate £46 billion of annual economic value for the UK and support more than 410,000 jobs. Those figures originated in a 2024 Hydrogen Innovation Initiative assessment and cover hydrogen technologies across the economy.
The scenario assumes the UK secures a highly ambitious share of a global market worth approximately $1 trillion, including production, storage, industrial equipment and other technologies.
In arguing for defined use cases rather than equal treatment of hydrogen and batteries across the vehicle market, the report suggests battery-electric systems may remain cheaper and more efficient wherever depot or en-route charging can support them.
The practical opportunity lies in matching vehicles, fuel supply and infrastructure within specific corridors or clusters where operators can demonstrate that hydrogen solves a real commercial constraint.
