JCB to talk hydrogen engines at NPP Summit

Hydrogen combustion engines are one of the hottest subjects in the global engine and equipment industry and few companies have been as active in hydrogen engine development as JCB.

Tim Burnhope, JCB’s chief innovation and growth officer, will discuss the company’s progress with hydrogen engines at the second New Power Progress Summit on May 3. JCB photo.

Now the subject and the company will come together as Tim Burnhope, JCB’s chief innovation and growth officer, will discuss the company’s progress with H2 engines at the second New Power Progress Summit on May 3.

A free online conference that will begin at 3 pm (UK: BST), 4 pm (EU: CET), 9 am (USA: CST), the NPP Summit is dedicated to “Technologies for CO2 neutrality.”

JCB has been actively testing a hydrogen-fueled, 4.8 L engine in a backhoe loader and the company believes that ultimately, hydrogen engines could be used in a variety of its machines. Late last year, JCB also announced a £100 million ($138.3 million, €118.5 million) investment in hydrogen engine production and has targeted the fourth quarter of 2022 as the launch date for its first hydrogen-fueled customer machines.

Burnhope noted that “whilst there is much discussion about the merits of using battery and fuel cell technology in machinery, we believe that the use of hydrogen internal combustion engines will provide the quickest way to reach the target of zero carbon dioxide emissions, especially from high use, high energy equipment such as larger excavators, backhoes and loadalls.”

Hydrogen engines are just one of the topics to explored at the New Power Progress Summit and other commercially emerging “new power” technologies planned to be discussed include batteries, electrification systems and fuel cells, all of which will be critical in reducing the CO2 output from the off-road and commercial vehicle sectors.

The NPP Summit 2021 was a highly successful event, with 1636 registered delegates from 695 companies. Delegates came from 68 countries, highlighting the global reach of the event.

To register for free, click HERE.