Ulemco has collaborated with Aberdeen City Council to deliver the world's first hydrogen dual fuel road sweeper.

It has been adapted by retrofitting a standard Euro 6 DAF truck to run on both diesel and hydrogen, and will use hydrogen fuel for around one-third of the energy used to drive and operate the vehicles, reducing CO2.

The council will be able to refuel the sweepers at the Aberdeen City Hydrogen Energy Storage (ACHES) hydrogen station, which makes hydrogen from renewable electricity, on a daily basis.

Amanda Lyne, CEO of Ulemco, said: “This latest initiative further demonstrates the potential for hydrogen dual fuel to make a significant impact on reducing diesel emissions from commercial vehicles."

Philip Bell, Aberdeen City Council’s hydrogen spokesman, said: "The delivery of this vehicle is part of our hydrogen strategy to increase the deployment of hydrogen vehicles in Aberdeen, and keeps us at the forefront of globally demonstrating the practicality and operational flexibility of hydrogen technologies, leading to future decarbonisation.”

The work was delivered as part of project HyTime, within the Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial, funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) in partnership with Innovate UK.