January 27, 2026

Why Not Hydrogen?

Arriving at the Next Big Thing There is always a search for the next big thing. Especially so for energy. There is a long history of well-meaning, but perhaps misguided…

Key Takeaways

Hydrogen serves as a practical power source for various applications, including agriculture, construction, and aviation.
Four practical methods for utilizing hydrogen include internal combustion, as a diesel sweetener, as an aftertreatment aid, and in fuel-cell systems.
Hydrogen boasts sustainability benefits, as burning it primarily produces water.
Despite its advantages, challenges like infrastructure, storage, and emissions control hinder hydrogen adoption.
Many industry leaders are actively testing hydrogen-powered technologies, showcasing its potential across different sectors.

Arriving at the Next Big Thing

There is always a search for the next big thing. Especially so for energy. There is a long history of well-meaning, but perhaps misguided initiatives that have littered the path to true success. This litter may create a bumpy road for new announcements.

Buckle your seatbelt.

It is surprising to realize that Hydrogen is already a practical power source for use on farms, construction sites, on the open road, and in the air. Heavy trucks, tractors, agricultural drones, and all manner of other powered equipment can benefit.

I see four practical methods of using Hydrogen as a power source:

Internal combustion (burn H₂): Modified engines can burn hydrogen directly as the sole fuel. This keeps familiar motor engineering and maintains the investment in manufacturing lines.
Diesel sweetener: Modified engines can inject Hydrogen into the combustion chamber to improve the efficiency of combustion and reduce emissions with limited need for re-engineering or changes to manufacturing. This is another commonsense way to introduce Hydrogen into existing systems.
Diesel aftertreatment aid: Hydrogen or hydrogen‑rich reformate can be used to promote soot oxidation and lower DPF regeneration temperature and frequency, reducing maintenance and downtime on diesel engines. It may also be used to directly fuel DPF regeneration. The impact is very large when this is projected across a class or engines, or a fleet of vehicles (I’m looking at you Schneider, Roehl, Prime, TMC, UPS, USPS, Fedex, etc).
Fuel‑cell power (H₂ → electricity): Fuel cells make quiet, continuous DC power for traction or tools. The DC can be converted to AC power to energize the drive motors and generate tremendous torque. This is ideal where steady electric power and fast refuel matter.

One of the bigger advantages to using hydrogen is sustainability: When burned as the sole fuel or consumed in a fuel cell, water is the major exhaust component.

If sustainability does not impress you, how about the energy density of Hydrogen? H₂ packs more energy than most other sources, as summarized below.

Specific energy and typical power‑unit output per kilogram

Fuel / power unit	Specific energy	Specific energy	Typical system-level energy per	Notes
Hydrogen (fuel cell)	33.3 kWh/kg	120 MJ/kg	16.7 kWh/kg	Assumes hydrogen LHV and a fuel‑cell system efficiency ≈50% (electrochemical conversion to electricity)
Hydrogen (internal combustion)	33.3 kWh/kg	120 MJ/kg	10.0 kWh/kg	Assumes hydrogen LHV and hydrogen ICE efficiency ≈30% (mechanical work from combustion)
Diesel (ICE vehicle)	12.6 kWh/kg	45.5 MJ/kg	4.4 kWh/kg	Assumes diesel energy content and typical ICE efficiency ≈35%
Gasoline (ICE vehicle)	12.7 kWh/kg	45.8 MJ/kg	4.5 kWh/kg	Assumes gasoline energy content and typical ICE efficiency ≈35%
Lithium‑ion battery (pack)	0.15 kWh/kg	0.54 MJ/kg	0.15 kWh/kg	Battery is both storage and power unit; value represents a realistic pack‑level specific energy for drone/portable packs

Said more simply, Hydrogen has more bang per kg than most fuels. By nearly a factor of 3!

Hydrogen trials

There have been several pioneering industry giants who have publicly acknowledged working on Hydrogen-powered machines:

Agriculture

Fendt / AGCO Helios and CNH/Steyr FCTRAC prototypes show full‑size tractors running fuel‑cell powerpacks with onboard compressed tanks and small battery buffers to meet typical farm duty cycles. These trials demonstrate multi‑hour operation and also expose the real refueling/infrastructure needs for farms.
Takeaway: fuel‑cell tractors give quiet, zero‑tailpipe operation for sensitive sites and can match diesel power for many tasks when hydrogen supply is available.

Aerial Drones

Fuel‑cell UAV modules (IE‑SOAR) deliver 800W–2.4 kW modules that typically triple to quadruple flight time vs batteries in field tests (Intelligent Energy, n.d.; DroneTalks, 2025), enabling BVLOS mapping, long inspections, and more sorties per day with quick cylinder swaps to refuel. This significantly changes mission capabilities.
Operator takeaway: pair a small battery for peak power with a fuel cell for cruise to maximize payload and increase flight minutes per kg of the power package. The simple act of reducing refueling stops increases efficiency by limiting the amount of useless ferry segments flown to refuel and return to restart.

Construction and heavy trucks

Construction (JCB, CASE/CNH pilots): JCB now produces certified hydrogen combustion engines following development and testing of more than 130 evaluation engines in loaders and backhoes. JCB has received full UA Stage V type approval for its hydrogen engine. CNH/Case/Steyr and others have also trialed fuel‑cell tractors and power units — both routes are viable depending on duty cycle and refuel logistics.
Heavy trucks (PACCAR/Toyota; Hyundai XCIENT): PACCAR expanded commercialization with Toyota’s heavy‑duty fuel‑cell modules for Kenworth/Peterbilt; Hyundai’s XCIENT fleets in Switzerland have logged millions of km and show 400+ km range per fill in real service.

Risks, tradeoffs, and practical steps

Why aren’t we using Hydrogen today if it is such a practical fuel? The common response is “lack of infrastructure.” Why not hydrogen? This is why:

Storage and packaging: Hydrogen’s high gravimetric but low volumetric energy means tank design (compressed vs liquid) matters for trucks and machines; plan tank placement and weight balance early during engineering.
NOx and controls: Hydrogen combustion can raise peak temperatures; engineers must use EGR, timing, and aftertreatment strategies to control NOx in dual‑fuel engines. This adds a unique new wrinkle to engineer around.
Supply and training: Secure hydrogen supply contracts or provide on‑site production. Train crews on handling and refueling safely before scaling.

Taken together, this means “It is difficult to find easily accessible supplies of Hydrogen.” Why pursue something that is difficult to find?

Poets and philosophers have been trying to answer that for millennia.

My own answer to the question is: We can solve many environmental and energy issues by turning to Hydrogen. We need the confidence and knowledge to innovate our way out of infrastructure issues.

Stay tuned to this site for more announcements. Or, better yet, reach out to me through the contact button above.

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