Hydrogen in Road and Rail Transport

Aliaksei Patonia () and Rahmatallah Poudineh ()
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Aliaksei Patonia: The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
Rahmatallah Poudineh: The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Chapter Chapter 7 in Clean Hydrogen for Decarbonisation, 2026, pp 143-177 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter assesses the role of hydrogen as a decarbonisation vector for road and rail transport. It analyses key technological pathways—fuel cells, combustion engines, and hybrid systems—comparing their efficiency, cost, and infrastructure requirements against dominant alternatives like battery-electric vehicles and direct electrification. The analysis reveals a segmented future: for light-duty road transport, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are the unequivocal leader on efficiency, cost, and increasingly, reliability, confining hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) to a potential niche. In heavy-duty road transport, BEVs are increasingly competitive, but hydrogen may find a role in specific long-haul, high-utilisation niches, though its commercial fragility is evident. For rail, a clear hierarchy emerges: direct electrification is preferred, batteries are optimal for bridging non-electrified gaps, and hydrogen is reserved for the hardest-to-electrify corridors. The chapter concludes that hydrogen’s widespread adoption in transport is constrained by the overarching challenge of producing affordable, low-carbon hydrogen at scale, with its application being highly selective rather than universal.

Keywords: Fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs); Hydrogen internal combustion engines (H₂-ICEs); Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs); Rail decarbonisation; Hydrogen infrastructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-19442-8_7

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-19442-8_7

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