The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Army have issued a solicitation to develop the H2Rescue, a fuel cell/battery hybrid disaster mitigation truck.
An interagency collaboration between the DOE and the Department of Defense (DoD) will support an opportunity to address disaster mitigation through the use of an advanced fuel truck technology concept known as H2Rescue. The H2Rescue is a fuel cell/battery hybrid truck that first responders and the military can drive to disaster mitigation sites. It can provide sufficient hydrogen to provide power, heat and even potable water for up to 72 hours.
This collaboration will enable increased resilience and clean energy capability for first responders conducting emergency relief and disaster management efforts. It will include a feasibility study and the development of a joint plan for a demonstration to ensure the truck meets the needs of users in the emergency management field.
The solicitation to support this opportunity can provide up to nearly $1 million in federal funds and requires an equal match of industry contributions. The U.S. Army Corps is leading the solicitation, which includes support from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office and Vehicle Technologies Office, as well as DoD’s Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center. This demonstration will help identify hydrogen, fuel cell, and battery R&D gaps to ensure the technology not only meets the needs, but provides additional value to the emergency management field.
This announcement supports DOE’s H2@Scale initiative that enables affordable and reliable hydrogen generation, transport, storage and utilization in the U.S. across multiple sectors. Collaborative opportunities to develop and demonstrate a first-of-its-kind emergency relief truck like the H2Rescue identify technological gaps that feed back to DOE’s H2@Scale R&D in heavy- and medium-duty transportation applications.
