Engineering consultancy, Ricardo plc, and hydrogen power technologies manufacturer, AFC Energy plc, have signed a collaboration agreement aimed at identifying new and innovative alternative fuel solutions.

Daimler Trucks AG, Iveco SpA and the Volvo Group have committed to work alongside Austrian oil company, OMV and Dutch firm, Shell New Energies NL BV under a new EU initiative called H2Accelerate, to help create conditions for mass-market roll-out of hydrogen trucks in Europe.

Cummins Inc has agreed to form a joint venture with Dutch startup, NPROXX bv, a specialist in hydrogen storage and transportation, for hydrogen storage tanks with facilities in The Netherlands and Germany.

While hydrogen still has less of a market share than many other alternative fuels, it has some compelling advantages as a fuel: It offers zero emissions, especially for heavy-duty vehicles that require fast fill times and a lot of on board energy storage, stated Erik Bigelow, Center for Transportation and the Environment.