JCB: Towards a hydrogen revolution

JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford discusses the company’s hydrogen technology, which is driving the construction and agriculture industries towards a zero-carbon future.

JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford is under no illusion as to his company’s responsibility in the face of the climate crisis facing the planet.

“You only have to turn on the news or read a newspaper to know that the threat of climate change is an increasingly real and pressing issue,” Bamford says. “With targets in place worldwide to be net zero by 2050, the onus is on all of us to reduce our carbon emissions.

“As the Chairman of one of the world’s largest construction equipment manufacturers, I feel this keenly.”

JCB is a major manufacturer of diesel engines, and is currently producing 400 per day for both JCB agricultural and construction machinery, as well as for other leading manufacturers.

However, Bamford says net zero targets make it clear that the industry needs to be exploring alternative means of powering its machines.

This is why, in July 2020, a team of JCB engineers set to work designing an engine for a digger that runs entirely on hydrogen. By December that year, the first working prototype was being tested.

“While other manufacturers’ previous attempts to produce hydrogen engines have been unsuccessful – as they simply tried to convert petrol engines – the team at JCB has managed to develop a high-performance, purpose-engineered zero-CO2 hydrogen fuel motor, which just emits steam from the tailpipe,” Bamford says.

Why hydrogen?

While JCB continues to power ahead with its 100 per cent electric E-TECH range, Bamford says alternative solutions are also required.

“We are investing in hydrogen as we don’t see electric being the all-round solution,” he says.

“For construction and agricultural industries, batteries are not always a viable option. In order to power heavy machinery, the batteries would need to be enormous and would therefore prove heavy and expensive, both to manufacture and to run.”

Bamford also foresees issues when it comes to recharging, particularly for machines operating far away from existing infrastructure, such as farmland, in quarries, or large remote construction sites – situations very common to Australia.

“And, of course, it would be impractical and unsafe to run electricity cables across the fields or the building site to charge the machines,” Bamford says.

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“In addition, for an engineer who is used to petrol or diesel motors, to re-train on electric models means dispensing with much of what they know and effectively starting from scratch. The logistical problems would be colossal, especially in the developing world.”

Hydrogen engines address a number of these problems, as they work on the internal combustion principle – similar to diesel or petrol engines. Additionally, according to Bamford, the cost is roughly the same as traditional engines running on fossil fuels.

Most importantly, these hydrogen engines do not emit any carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making them entirely carbon neutral.

“For green hydrogen production, we can even utilise surplus renewable energy generated by solar or wind power which is currently going unused,” Bamford says.

JCB’s hydrogen-powered Loadall telescopic handler.

What’s next?

Now that hydrogen technology is available, Bamford says the next step is to encourage governments and authorities around the world to get on board.

“While the benefits of hydrogen power are hopefully clear for everyone to see, it’s still a relatively new technology,” he says. “So, it is crucial that we start to take the lead in getting the message out there.”

In support of this message, JCB has already revealed a prototype hydrogen powered backhoe loader, as well as a Loadall telescopic handler. These machines were on show at last October’s COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland, to a reaction Bamford describes as “overwhelmingly positive”.

Among those impressed was then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said at the time: “Great British manufacturers like JCB are developing innovative solutions to slash greenhouse emissions and advance the UK’s green industrial revolution.

“It was fantastic to see JCB’s super-efficient hydrogen engines, which could overhaul UK manufacturing, help us to rapidly reach our climate targets and ramp up the UK’s hydrogen economy.”

It is Bamford’s hope that hydrogen power will start to be seen as a genuinely viable alternative to electric or battery-powered machinery within the construction sector.

“JCB is investing £100 million in this project to produce super-efficient hydrogen engines,” he says. “A team of 100 engineers is already working on the exciting development with the recruitment of up to 50 more engineers now under way as we target the end of 2022 for the first machines to be made available to customers.

“This commitment reinforces my conviction that hydrogen power will be a key part of the solution as we respond to the ongoing threat of climate change. JCB can be firmly at the forefront of this hydrogen revolution.”

This article was originally published in the November edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.