Government officials and members of Congress showed great support for hydrogen-powered transportation on Wednesday (Aug. 11) after having a chance to see exactly how a Kenworth T6780 fuel cell vehicle works.
Earlier this week on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, activities took place in the run-up to a US Department of Energy (DOE) conference that focused on decarbonizing transportation in the US to reduce emissions.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy showed exactly what role hydrogen could play here.
At the time of publication, Kenworth has built 10 zero-emission T680 vehicles as part of the $ 82.5 million Shore-to-Store (S2S) project led by the Port of Los Angeles.
Speaking at the company’s vehicle celebration, Kevin Baney, General Manager of Kenworth and Vice President of PACCAR said, “This was a great opportunity to give senior government officials and members of Congress and their members a hands-on look at the T680 fuel cell electric vehicle employees.
“The T680 fuel cell electric vehicle program is a key element of Kenworth’s industry-leading drive to drive to zero emissions in the US and Canada.”
Hydrogen trucks, trends and technologies
© Toyota
For energy-intensive applications such as long-distance transport and heavy trucks, hydrogen is one of the most interesting energy sources, offering operators quiet, steady and consistently strong performance, all without emitting emissions. An important industry for North America, be it transporting food, agricultural goods, building materials or clothing, trucks can be found almost everywhere on the continent and very few commuters can drive down the freeway without seeing one. Unfortunately, many of these vehicles emit high levels of CO2 and cause great damage to the environment. However, North America wants to change this with the help of its thriving mobility sector with the introduction of emission-free technologies such as hydrogen.
In California, late last year (December 2020), a new program was approved to bring the cleanest vehicle technologies to low-income and underserved communities to help transition to zero-emission trucks. This is now one of several programs hoping to speed deployment. California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) offers incentives to buy the cleanest medium and heavy trucks. Each of these vehicle purchase incentive programs helps businesses and individuals make the move to clean vehicles and in return leaves the market for them Technologies grow.
Incentives play a critical role in supporting air quality, climate and oil reduction goals in North America. And in California, they are accelerating the transition of fleets to zero-emission vehicles in line with Governor Newsom’s executive order that all cars sold in the state are zero-emissions by 2035 and all medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks are zero-emissions by 2045 where possible.
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