Australia’s first hydrogen fuel cell truck has been developed by RMIT researchers – and is being touted as a possible solution for the fact trucks account for approximately 20% of the country’s greenhouse emissions by road vehicles.

The head of the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, said given the carbon tax, emissions trading and rising diesel costs, new sustainable technologies offered industry a way of stabilising costs.

Research into hydrogen-powered electrical systems could also supply power for truck air-conditioning and radio, along with a trailer refrigeration unit.

Road freight transport is a $35 billion industry in Australia, and the nation has some of the highest freight levels per capita in the world.