Here’s a quick round up of alternative fuel news from this week.

Electric Dream?

This week’s Commercial Vehicle Show at the Birmingham NEC has seen a host of new vehicle announcements – not least from electric vehicle manufacturers and converters.

Commercial Motor Editor Brian Wetherley has posted a review of some of the most interesting electric contenders on his Big Lorry Blog and it is encouraging to see some of the electric vehicle companies I have previously written about making a high profile appearance at this major trade show and getting interest from major fleet operators.

It’s not hard to imagine that electric vans and light trucks could become popular with van hire companies in urban areas, too. In London especially, the tightening rules in place in the LEZ (Low Emissions Zone) mean that operating zero emission electric vehicles might be of financial benefit for both the hirer and the hire company.

UK’s First Hydrogen Fuel Station

This week also saw the opening of the UK’s first hydrogen fuel station at the University of Birmingham. The university – which is home to a number of research initiatives into fuel cells and alternative fuels – will run five hydrogen vehicles alongside its existing fleet of electric, petrol and diesel vehicles in order to learn more about the performance and efficiency of such vehicles.

The hydrogen fuel station has been installed by leading hydrogen supplier Air Products and is able to fuel around six hydrogen vehicles each day – but the hydrogen fuelling plant has been specifically designed for compact, easy installation and is only intended for limited scale usage at present. As I wrote about recently, such hydrogen fuel stations generally only require mains electricity and water, making them easy to install and adapt for mobile use.

Mainstream car makers experimenting with hydrogen vehicles are keen to encourage hydrogen fuel stations, due to the ‘chicken and egg’ scenario currently faced. Even when efficient, affordable hydrogen-powered vehicles are available, there is no fuelling infrastructure in the UK or Europe to make their use possible.

Although hydrogen fuel is zero emission when in use, producing hydrogen remains quite costly in energy terms. I think it’s still an open question as to whether electricity or hydrogen will win the race to become the next mainstream fuel – my gut tells me it might be electricity, but what do I know?