Royal Mail Launches 3 Hydrogen Vehicles
Royal Mail, the UK's postal delivery service, has taken delivery of three hydrogen fueled vehicles, believed to be the only hydrogen fuelled postal vehicles in the world outside of North America.
The two Ford transits (internal combustion engine conversions) will soon be on their way to Stornoway, Scotland where they will be fuelled by green hydrogen. The fuel cell powered Microcab vehicle will be used on Birmingham University campus as the mail delivery vehicle and will also be fuelled by a green hydrogen source.
The Stornoway vehicles will use hydrogen which is derived from a local biogas plant where putrescible domestic waste is digested and the resulting methane used to power a gas engine which in turn provides the electricity to an electroliser and produces hydrogen. They will therefore be a zero carbon operation as well as reducing landfill methane emissions to the atmosphere.
Separately, Royal Mail, CENEX, PostEurop and FuelCellEurope announced they are working together on developing a universal design specification for hydrogen fuel cell postal vans.
Source: Fuel Cell Today