A step towards decarbonisation of the construction industry has been made with the UK government granting of a special dispensation to allow construction equipment manufacturer JCB to test and use its world-first hydrogen-powered digger on the roads.

This backhoe loader is the first vehicle of its kind, using a traditional internal combustion engine which has been adapted to run on hydrogen. JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said, “JCB’s hydrogen-powered backhoe loader is a world first in our industry, a digger with a purpose-engineered internal combustion engine that uses hydrogen gas as the energy source. It’s a real breakthrough – a zero CO2 fuel providing the power to drive the pistons in an internal combustion engine, a technology that’s been around for over 100 years, a technology that we are all familiar with.”

Using and adapting established engine technology with readily available components, hydrogen is combusted and power is delivered in exactly the same way as a diesel engine. The technology is far less complicated than hydrogen fuel-cell technology and nothing but steam is emitted from the tailpipe.