A vision for the future of transport

It’s clear that on our current trajectory, we’re heading towards a very uncertain future – but we already know what needs to be done to avert a climate catastrophe. Transforming the transport sector is a critical part of this. In the UK, road transport is responsible for just under 30% of all territorial greenhouse gas emissions – a considerable portion of our carbon footprint that, despite best efforts, hasn’t really begun trending downwards.

The new Labour Government has hit the ground running on the green agenda, quickly gaining momentum on clean energy and planning, but there remain significant concerns that the UK will not be able to meet its EV uptake targets for either 2030 or 2035. As part of the General Election campaign, Labour pledged to bring forward the phase-out date for ICE vehicles to 2030, but based on current trends this looks ambitious.

Despite a widespread understanding of the need to decarbonise transport, transforming the sector has proved thorny thus far. The high production cost of EV batteries has knock-on effects for rates of adoption as costs are fed through to motorists, while unevenly distributed charging infrastructure means that people continue to feel ‘range anxiety’.

Switching to alternative fuels – such as electricity or hydrogen – as fast as reasonably possible, presents its own challenges. The production of EV batteries depends largely on critical raw materials like lithium, which are expected to face supply shortages as soon as next year. Batteries are also heavily dependent on cobalt and nickel, which have been linked to deforestation, water pollution and other types of environmental degradation.

Manufacturers are also having to contend with the implications of the increased weight of EVs due to the weight of batteries including tyre degradation, which can result in significant risks to the environment and human health.

At Levidian, we want to tackle these issues head on, with a range of vehicles powered by hydrogen and built with materials enhanced by sustainable graphene that could considerably drive down or even eliminate the use of critical minerals.

What on earth is graphene?

Although discovered 20 years ago, graphene has only recently started to garner commercial interest as a potential gamechanger for the transport sector. It is both the thinnest and strongest material ever discovered and has breathtaking potential to transform key products for the automotive sector.

A great example of this is the deployment of graphene within batteries, which could deliver a 20% increase in energy density. This would allow for lighter and smaller battery packs whilst speeding up charging by up to 30%, shaving an hour off the average home charging time of a mid-range EV.

Another example is modern high-performance passenger EV tyres where graphene has been shown to positively impact degradation mechanisms. Latest results highlight the potential to eliminate toxic 6PPD from tyres by enabling the use of a more environmentally friendly antiozonant in the form of 77PD. We’re also seeing great results on combining graphene with carbon black (traditionally used as a reinforcing ‘filler’) in truck tyres in a new tread formulation that has the potential to reduce rolling resistance by around 23%, dramatically improving efficiency. Independent testing found that fuel efficiency could be improved overall by 3-4%, saving HGV operators over £300m in fuel and reducing CO2 emissions by almost half a million tonnes a year for UK operators alone.

The role of hydrogen in the future fleet

Hydrogen is another potential gamechanger in the transport transition, offering an excellent alternative to fossil fuels for commercial vehicles and heavy haulage where battery technology is less suited.

We’re already seeing signs of this happening. Leading truck manufacturer Volvo has announced that they will be manufacturing HGVs with combustion engines that run on hydrogen, whilst VDL Group and Toyota have unveiled their first hydrogen fuel cell demonstration truck. What’s critical now is that we find ways to ensure that the hydrogen used is sustainably produced and at a sufficient scale that it can become a credible part of the system.

At Levidian, we have pioneered a new approach to the production of both high-quality graphene and clean hydrogen by blasting methane gas with microwave energy to split the atoms into their component parts. Unlike other hydrogen production methods such as electrolysis (which requires large amounts of water), and steam-methane reforming, (which comes with a heavy carbon footprint), our ‘LOOP’ unit offers a localised clean, water-free approach to decarbonising methane that can be quickly retrofitted to existing infrastructure.

Better still is the potential for our hydrogen and graphene to be carbon negative depending on the make-up of the local grid and where the methane is coming from.

Transforming the UK’s waste

Research by our own team of experts has shown the opportunity for over 100,000 tonnes of clean hydrogen a year to be produced by capturing the carbon from UK wastewater treatment plants and farms – enough to meet around 20% of the hydrogen demand that is predicted to be needed for the transport sector in 2035.

We already have LOOP units in the field with work underway to commission a unit at one of the UK’s largest wastewater treatment plants, United Utilities’ Davyhulme facility later this summer. We have also partnered with clean hydrogen developer, Hexla, to deliver a project at Worthy Farm, home of the Glastonbury Festival, in the world’s first example of carbon negative hydrogen and graphene production from biomethane.

Together these projects offer a glimpse into a future where a harmful waste is transformed into two highly-valuable products that could change the shape of the UK’s vehicle fleet as we know it.

The potential is clear. Now is the time to act.

Author: Alistair Donaldson, Chief Technology Officer, Levidian