Oxfordshire council explores zero emission fire engines

The next stage of the project is to build a prototype

A fire service has played a crucial role in a study on how to run a fleet of zero emission fire engines.

Engineering firm Ulemco carried out research with Oxfordshire County Council on how to power its vehicles by hydrogen.

Chief fire officer Rob MacDougall called the conclusions "really exciting" and a way to reduce emissions "ahead of expectations".

Ulemco said it would build a prototype to demonstrate its effectiveness.

In conjunction with Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, it concluded that zero emission battery electric fire engines would meet emergency response times and water pumping requirements.

The vehicles would have a combination of stored energy in their batteries and onboard hydrogen fuel storage, and could be refuelled rapidly.

'Important step'

Fire stations in the county were assessed for possible hydrogen refuelling locations.

As a result the council is "evaluating the logistics of establishing a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure" to cover both urban and rural parts of the county.

Research also found that existing vehicle designs could accommodate the hydrogen fuel system.

Pete Sudbury, cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: "This clever combination of battery power with hydrogen fuel cell range extender is excellent news for those of us who are optimistic that hydrogen could play an important role in the decarbonisation process.

"Moving heavy duty vehicles like fire engines away from fossil fuels is a difficult challenge, so this is an important step in exploring and advancing zero carbon solutions."

Mr MacDougall said: "We are committed to reducing our emissions in line with the county's ambitions and this provides a potential route to achieving this ahead of expectations, as well as forging a way for the whole sector."