Can Racing Series Boost Hydrogen Interest?

The hydrogen economy as it relates to vehicles and transportation is still incubating, and few consumers really understand how they could run a car or SUV on hydrogen.

But a new racing series focused on hydrogen-powered cars set to kick off in 2025 could help the cause and boost attention.

Extreme E and the FIA have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create the new hydrogen series, which will be called Extreme H. The hope of the organizers is that the series will rise to become the eighth FIA World Championship in 2026.

"Establishing alongside the FIA a world-first hydrogen racing world championship will be a momentous milestone for Extreme E and the new Extreme H series," explains the founder and CEO of Extreme E, Alejandro Agag. "Eventual accreditation as an FIA Championship and then an FIA World Championship means we would be amongst the top tier of global motorsport categories, and Extreme H would be the first-ever world championship racing series of its kind."

The effort follows the establishment of the Formula E open-wheel series and Extreme E series for all-electric SUVs.

Driving Hydrogen Interest

The lack of hydrogen refueling infrastructure in the U.S. has kept fuel-cell vehicles, or liquid hydrogen, a very niche proposition. But there are efforts afoot to drive fuel-cell powered heavy trucks to replace diesel engines, and some automakers believe that hydrogen-powered cars, pickups and SUVs could find a market as infrastructure builds up.

The Bi-Parisan Infrastructure Act of 2022 provides up to $8 billion dollars to establish hydrogen production hubs around the country, to be situated strategically to support semi-trucks on the most heavily traveled trucking routes.

The Dept. of Energy says there is up to $7 billion to establish six to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs across America. As part of a larger $8 billion hydrogen hub program funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the H2Hubs are intended to help communities across the country benefit from clean energy investments, jobs creation and improved energy security.

“Clean hydrogen hubs will create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier that can deliver or store tremendous amounts of energy,” according to the DOE.

The technology, around for decades, has gotten a major boost from the federal government. But the continued debate around hydrogen, which is clean burning, centers on how cleanly it can be created. The Biden Admin. is incentivizing “green” hydrogen, created from wind and solar, but most of the hydrogen created today comes from fossil fuels, which is known as grey hydrogen.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element on Earth. But it really On Earth, though, it rarely exists as a gas – so it needs to be separated from other elements, such as natural gas.

Grey hydrogen is the most common form and is generated from natural gas, or methane, through a process called “steam reforming.”

Hydrogen is labeled “blue” whenever the carbon generated from steam reforming is captured and stored underground through industrial carbon capture and storage.