After recent reports by the Australian Financial Review on the challenges the trucking industry is facing to keep up with surging fuel prices, United H2 Limited (UHL) believes a new H₂ injection technology it is bringing to market can provide a commercially viable solution.

The technology can be used to reduce diesel and petrol fuel usage on passenger, commercial and stationary engines. Given this, the company will target heavy diesel vehicles, such as trucks, buses, vans, utes, cement trucks and waste collection vehicles while also focusing on stationary engines such as generators or mining equipment.

Key points:

• The cost of running a single truck almost completely outweighed any profit as petrol prices surged by 9.1% in August, with many in the industry now weighing up their future as they struggled to pass on costs.
• New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data revealed automotive fuels had increased close to 14% in the 12 months to August, driving the monthly CPI indicator up to 5.2%.
• Major retailers cite increasing transport costs as a contributor to higher food prices.
• The increase in fuel prices was a major contributor to this month’s rise in inflation, according to the ABS, with diesel prices jumping an average of 26 cents per liter in August.

With industry veterans saying the increase in fuel prices means they are currently working for nothing and the trickle-on effect this is having on the broader Australian economy, UHL believes H₂ injection offers a right now solution to these challenges.

For this reason, UHL has finalized a joint venture with a technical partner, which will give it exclusive global distribution rights to H₂ injection kits that are retrofitted onto internal combustion engines to produce H₂ onboard and inject it into an engine to reduce fuel usage by up to 20%.

Subsequently, this substantial reduction in fuel usage will help companies cut fuel costs. The kits can also reduce the amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust by up to 50%, which will reduce air pollution and extend the life of an engine as there is less dirty particulates going through it.

In 2020, Australia consumed 28.5-B liters of diesel, meaning this technology has the potential to save up to 5.7-B liters annually and stop 15.39 B/kg of carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere. UHL believes this represents a large opportunity, as it provides industry-leading commercial and environmental benefits. With a technical partner that has products ready for market, UHL plans to launch the company over the next week and begin taking orders.