"The promise of green hydrogen to decarbonize transport".
On April 4, 2022, the Club Les Echos Débats - Prospectives welcomed Christophe Fanichet, President of SNCF Voyageurs, and Philippe Rosier, CEO of Symbio, to discuss the theme of sustainable mobility. Aldric Auer, Mission Director at Delville Management, reflects on these discussions.
Sustainable and responsible mobility is a theme that echoes recent events in more ways than one. The possibility of an embargo on Russian oil and gas raises the question of how we can do without hydrocarbons by changing our modes of transport. The latest IPCC report underlines the need to speed up the fight against global warming.
Sustainable mobility centered on the promise of carbon-free hydrogen
The challenge over the coming years is to succeed in decarbonizing all modes of transport. Hydrogen offers an opportunity to decarbonize freight transport, provided we succeed in creating a decarbonized or "green" hydrogen sector, produced from renewable energies such as wind power or photovoltaics, as opposed to "grey" hydrogen produced from fossil fuels.
SNCF on the road to energy transition
Transportation plays a central role in meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. The sector is responsible for 30% of these emissions. "Trains account for only 1%, even though they carry 10% of all travellers in France," emphasizes Christophe Fanichet.
SNCF runs 15,000 trains every day, 90% of them electric (TGV, Transiliens...). As France's biggest energy consumer, SNCF Voyageurs accounts for 10% of the electricity consumed by industrial companies.
The 10% of non-electric trains are diesel TERs. Their electrification by catenary is not possible due to its cost: 20 million euros per km of track.
That's why SNCF Voyageurs has embarked on a two-pronged approach: to secure its energy purchases and their price; at the same time, the company aims to integrate 30 to 40% renewable energies into its electricity consumption mix by 2030.
The hydrogen train challenge
Europe is betting on hydrogen trains, spearheaded by Germany, which has been running two hydrogen trains on a 100 km line in Lower Saxony since 2018 and continues to expand its fleet, despite the fact that these zero-emission trains cost around 40% more.
In France, the SNCF, in partnership with manufacturer Alstom, will equip itself with 12 hydrogen-powered trains by 2025 on behalf of four pioneering regions: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Occitanie.
The three challenges associated with this energy transition relate to securing supplies of green hydrogen, its social acceptance and the organization of end-to-end sustainable mobility.
Symbio steps up the pace on hydrogen
A joint venture between Faurecia and Michelin, Symbio develops, produces and markets fuel cell systems for mobility. The company has improved their technology by transforming hydrogen into electricity via an electro-chemical reaction. This solution offers three major advantages: extended range, rapid recharging (a few minutes) and the quality of use of a diesel vehicle with zero GHG emissions", says Philippe Rosier.
1,000 vehicles are currently powered by Symbio's technology, and the company is working with Stellantis and others to address professional mobility segments (trucks, vans, etc.). Hydrogen has the advantage of opening up decarbonization possibilities to market segments that are not accessible to all-electric power: a 40-tonne truck would require 20 tonnes of battery power to move around. What's more, hydrogen energy disperses rapidly in the air, without exploding or polluting, giving it a safety advantage.
The market is expected to take off by 2024-2025, with a target of 2 to 2.5 million 100% hydrogen vehicles produced per year by 2030, i.e. 2% of the market.
What trains of the future?
"SNCF is banking on a range of complementary solutions to get us off diesel by 2035, focusing on three alternative technologies: battery-powered trains, biofuel-powered trains and hydrogen-powered trains: biofuels, with a trial underway on the Paris-Granville line; hydrogen for long-distance journeys; batteries for short-distance journeys, such as to and from stations. Trains must be the backbone of French travel, with a rail-road mix": TGV and Ouigo for long distances; TER and Transiliens for short distances; RER for dense urban areas.
. The light, flexible, 100% electric Draisy and Flexy trains of the future, currently under development, for short-distance services.
As far as roads are concerned, "the development of new technologies (batteries and hydrogen) requires the deployment of an efficient network of hydrogen stations and electric recharging points to give drivers the same freedom of use as combustion-powered vehicles, by playing on the complementary nature of hydrogen and electricity, rather than their opposition", explains Philippe Rosier.
To achieve parity with diesel, automakers still need to work on the efficiency, durability and cost of these new technologies. The recent rise in energy prices could act as a gas pedal in the decarbonization of transport.