Clean Air Power launches video to mark ‘world first’ rail freight decarbonisation project

Clean Air Power has produced a special video to mark the delivery of the first project that used its DigiJet hydrogen injector range.?

The firm was able to demonstrate a Freightliner Class 66 locomotive running on hydrogen to reduce its carbon emission output. It achieved this by fitting the Class 66 with DigiJet precision injection technology, allowing the locomotive to run on a combination of diesel, biogas and hydrogen.

The nine-month, government-backed initiative funded by Innovate UK signifies the first ever time this decarbonisation approach - previously demonstrated on road - has been successfully tailored and applied to the rail freight sector.

The video highlights this paves the way for the decarbonisation of other Class 66 locomotives, which carry over 80% of the freight on the rail network. It could also lead to improved fuel economy and running costs.

The sector is committed to replace all diesel-only trains by 2040.

The successful use of DigiJet technology has led to several other collaborative opportunities for Clean Air Power. Further information on these will be released shortly.

Dan Skelton, CEO of Clean Air Power, said: “This is very exciting for Clean Air Power and opens up the opportunity to demonstrate our technology in areas that are difficult to decarbonise, and may not be best suited to battery and fuel cell technology. We’ve clearly shown the potential for DigiJet and decarbonisation.”

Clean Air Power and Freightliner were the main Class 66 project partners. They were supported by RSSB, the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education at the University of Birmingham, Network Rail and Tarmac.