As the Canadian Pacific Railway’s locomotive chugs along the tracks in Calgary, something is clearly wrong.
It’s the typical size and look you’d expect, but what’s missing is the low-noise diesel engine.
Instead, this locomotive runs on hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology as part of a railroad test to explore whether low-emission vehicles are strong enough and reliable enough to potentially one day revolutionize rail operations. company
In recent years, there has been increased focus on hydrogen’s potential to decarbonize many industries and help countries meet their climate goals, while renewing energy systems along the way.
The next 12 months will be critical, experts say, to understand whether this vision could plausibly become a reality in the near future or remain part of the imagination for decades to come.
There is excitement in Canadian industry for what 2023 will bring, as several demonstration projects are planned, while construction will also begin on a new massive hydrogen production facility.
Tests in progress
For CP Rail, the hydrogen locomotive completed its first “revenue trip” a few months ago with the expectation that trains will be running in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary by the end of 2023. The next step will be to test the technology through the Rocky. Mountains.
“It’s a perfect test bed. If you can operate there — heavy hauling, cold temperatures, the toughest operating conditions I’ve experienced in my career. And if it works there, it’ll work everywhere,” CP chief executive, Keith. Creel said during a speech at the RailTrends 2022 conference in November.
“If this proves its mettle and shakes through the very tough validation test, we’ll give it, [it will] be truly transformative for this industry.”
Relying on hydrogen as a fuel source is not a new concept, but technology is advancing to improve performance, while there is an increased focus on climate change around the world.
A new hydrogen bus from the City of Edmonton sits in the parking lot of a transit garage. A second hydrogen bus will operate in nearby Strathcona County as part of a one-year pilot project. (Julia Wong/CBC)
This year will mark the start of a few more experiments as hydrogen-powered buses and semi-trucks hit the road.
A pair of transit buses will carry passengers to Edmonton and nearby Strathcona County as part of a one-year pilot project.
New production plant
Meanwhile, a hydrogen fueling station is being built in Edmonton to allow the Alberta Motor Transport Association to test semi-trucks on the province’s roads. The organization wants to offer up to four different truck models this year for local businesses to try out.
“I think the next 12 months is very much a proof of concept,” said David Layzell, an energy systems architect at the Transition Accelerator, a non-profit organization created to help Canada meet its climate goals, and professor in biological sciences emeritus from the University of Calgary.
David Layzell, energy systems architect at the Transition Accelerator and professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, says hydrogen is cheaper than diesel, the higher cost of transporting hydrogen and building the fuel station in Edmonton poses a challenge. (CAESAR)
“We can actually make hydrogen cheaper than diesel today,” he said, although the challenge is the much higher cost of transporting the hydrogen and building the fueling station.
“We’re only going to drive those prices down by scaling,” Layzell said.
Hydrogen has been around for a long time, but there is renewed enthusiasm for the sector as a way to start the transition to a world dependent on low-carbon energy.
Hydrogen is an energy carrier, and experts say it can be used primarily for heating and as a transportation fuel.
The amount of pollution associated with hydrogen depends on how it is made. For example, if solar or wind facilities, rather than a coal-fired power station, produce the electricity used to create hydrogen, emissions are relatively low.
Construction has just begun northeast of Edmonton on the world’s largest hydrogen plant by Air Products Canada. The $1.6 billion facility will use natural gas to produce hydrogen with the goal of sequestering 95 percent of emissions and storing them underground.
François-Philippe Champagne, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, is shown in Edmonton in November 2022, announcing funding for the construction of Air Products’ $1.6 billion hydrogen plant, the largest Of the world. (Janet French/CBC)
“The hydrogen challenge is a bit of the chicken or the egg challenge,” said Kevin Krausert, chief executive of Avatar Innovations Inc., a Calgary-based company that helps develop energy transition technologies.
“Who’s going to build a major hydrogen facility if there’s no demand, and who’s going to build a bunch of hydrogen trucks or trains if there’s no hydrogen to supply it? So you have this kind of supply challenge and demand.”
Construction of the Air Products facility, he said, is beginning to overcome that problem.
‘Too little too late’
There is momentum in the hydrogen sector in Canada, but some experts warn that the most critical question in the next 12 months is not so much about the technology itself, but about the willingness of governments to support the industry.
“This is relative to what is happening to the south of us with the political supports in the United States which are very strong and very attractive and could take all the capital. [investment] that we could spend here and divert it down south,” said Ed Whittingham, an Alberta-based public policy consultant.
Alberta-based public policy consultant Ed Whittingham says Canada will have to step up if it wants to be competitive in the field of hydrogen technology with the US, which under the new legislation could cover up to 75 percent of the cost to produce low-carbon hydrogen. . (CBC)
US Government Inflation Reduction Act [IRA] includes significant subsidies not only to offset the cost of building a hydrogen facility, but also to subsidize its operations, among other funding programs.
In some cases, Whittingham said, up to 75 percent of the cost to produce low-carbon hydrogen could be covered by the US government.
“What’s really going to determine whether hydrogen stays niche and stays small-scale in Canada or whether it becomes mainstream and Canada really becomes a serious competitor is our response to what the US has done,” he said. to say.
“And it could be a case, frankly, of too little, too late.”
The federal government is proposing a clean hydrogen investment tax credit to attract companies to develop new clean hydrogen projects. The tax deduction will have a minimum value of 40 percent for projects that meet certain labor and low emission requirements.
In its 2022 autumn economic statement, the federal government warned that the subsidies offered in the United States were more generous and increased the challenge of attracting investment north of the border.
LOOK | Competition between Canada and the US to attract investment:
What’s holding back Canada’s hydrogen industry?
Ed Whittingham is a public policy consultant and former executive director of the Pembina Institute.
“Canada will need to do even more to secure our competitive advantage and continue to create opportunities for Canadian workers,” the report says. “Without new measures to keep pace with the IRA, Canada risks being left behind.”
Ottawa is currently accepting comments on its proposed hydrogen tax credit.
$1.6 billion Air Products facility under development in Edmonton to receive $300 million from federal government towards construction and an additional $161.5 million from the Government of Alberta once the plant is operational.