INEOS, Europe’s biggest operator of electrolysis needed to produce clean, low carbon hydrogen, has doubled down on its €2 billion investment in green hydrogen with the launch of a hydrogen advocacy campaign.
The campaign kicked off with the publication of a powerful editorial in the Sunday Telegraph on the hydrogen economy written by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS’s founder and chairman, followed by a national multi-media campaign that includes substantial billboard and digital advertising as well as a hydrogen bus exhibition tour and presence in Glasgow at COP26.
Sir Jim says: “We believe that hydrogen is the fuel of the future and INEOS is determined to take a leading role in its development. When used in a fuel cell, hydrogen only produces water and is the UK’s best chance of reaching its carbon reduction targets.”
“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.
INEOS Automotive, which will begin production of its petrol- and diesel-powered Grenadier 4X4 in July 2022, is also backing hydrogen as a clean energy solution for future versions of the vehicle. As part of this, the business is delighted to confirm that it is to partner with powertrain engineering specialist, AVL, to build the Grenadier FCEV Concept, a hydrogen powered car which will begin on- and off-road testing by the end of 2022. Thanks to a partnership agreement signed in November 2020, the Grenadier FCEV Concept will use fuel cell technology from Hyundai Motor Company. An automotive fuel cell pioneer, in 2013 Hyundai was the first company in the world to begin mass production of fuel cell electric vehicles.
Wherever possible, INEOS will continue to prioritise the production of green hydrogen which is made from water using electrolysis powered by renewable energy, but it is also investing in the production of blue hydrogen when the carbon produced can be safely captured and stored underground.
Sir Jim, though, adds 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. At the moment we are massively lagging behind Europe and the gap is starting to grow.”