Both hydrogen and electricity are necessary for net zero.
This is what Mats Sköldberg, Head of Technology at Volvo Construction Equipment said in this week’s Net Hero Podcast.
‘Whether you use electric or hydrogen very much depends on your infrastructure. You can use hydrogen directly in your machines where it’s available but in regions where it isn’t, electric might be better.
‘So the solution depends on both the site and the region.
‘You also need to look at the complete carbon footprint of what you use, so taking the life cycle assessment of batteries for example. The important thing is to move away from burning diesel.
‘At Volvo, we use a variety of solutions including grid solutions in combination with batteries, especially for our larger machines.’
Volvo was involved with a research project called Electric Worksite to understand the viability of an all-electric construction site.
Mats told us: ‘We were trying to prove that we could make a whole site CO2 free and to a big extent, it was successful.
‘We used grid solutions for large excavators and hybrids for wheel loaders, although we now also have fully electric wheel loaders.
‘I believe that we can get a net zero construction site, it will take a while but we need to take the small steps now. We need to drive in the right direction and do what we can.
‘Of course, net zero will look different in different parts of the world but we all need to do our part.’
Watch the full episode below.
