Sustainable heavy-duty transport from an energy-system perspective

The transport sector contributes significantly to global CO2 emissions. In fact, road freight accounts for 9 % of global combustion-related emissions and is expected to further grow in the coming decades. Battery electric and hydrogen powertrains are both effective solutions to decarbonize heavy duty transport. In a recent study carried out by Shell and Hamburg University of Technology, efficiency and cost of the energy carrier supply chain were compared. The following energy-carrier-powertrain options were investigated: battery electric, gaseous hydrogen and liquid hydrogen with fuel cell and ICE as powertrain. The diesel powertrain was used as the reference case. The paper gives a holistic overview well-to-wheel overview including the production and distribution of the energy carrier to the nozzle and the use on the truck. The study also considers constraints from the energy system perspective, i.e. the need for seasonal energy storage and molecular energy imports into Europe. If hydrogen in the future needs to be imported into Europe at scale, is it better to reconvert into electricity and power battery electric trucks or should hydrogen be used directly in a FCEV or ICE powertrain of the truck? The answer is: both technologies will be needed in the future: battery electric trucks and hydrogen trucks. It depends on the needed share of hydrogen reconversion to power and it depends on the use case of the truck application.