Hydrogen fuel internal combustion engines have been studied and developed for a long time. Thanks to the no carbon element in hydrogen, hydrogen never generates any CO₂ after the combustion. In the time when the greenhouse effect caused by CO₂ in the atmosphere is crucial all over the world, the reduction of CO₂ generated by the fossil fueled internal combustion engines is more urgently required. As one the leading power generators, hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines can work well to reduce CO₂ in the atmosphere, leading earlier to the hydrogen energy society. And the hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines have advanced a lot these 20 years especially in the thermal efficiency. In addition of the tendency of the renewable energy toward larger amount and smaller price, it is expected for the hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines to make a swift debut into the society.

The authors have previously proposed PCC (Plume Ignition and Combustion Concept) combustion, in which a hydrogen fuel is directly injected to the combustion chamber in the latter half of the compression stroke and forms a richer mixture plume. By combusting the mixture plume, both cooling losses and NOx formation are reduced. According to the authors, thermal efficiency was substantially improved, and NOx formation was reduced with PCC combustion by optimizing such characteristics as direction and diameter of the jets in combination with combustion of lean mixture. As a result, hydrogen engine which does not emit any CO2 and particulate matter emissions in principle is worth to be called near-zero emission hydrogen engines in both name and reality.

Hydrogen fueled engines have a potential as a power train for commercial vehicles of carbon free. How to break through the problems of a hydrogen fueled engine is described here. A medium duty truck having the hydrogen fueled engine was developed, and it showed an enough performance for commercial use. It was suggested that hydrogen fueled engines encourages improvement of hydrogen energy use.

Detailed evaluation of the hydrogen demand in 2030 has been conducted based on the previously published evaluation study using a global and long-term intertemporal optimization model, GRAPE. In Japan, hydrogen demand for fuel cell vehicle and for hydrogen Combined Heat and Power (H₂-CHP) is shown to emerge by 2030 prior to the emergence of large-scale hydrogen demand for hydrogen firing generation. Among technological options of H₂-CHP, gas engine is found to be preferable due to its low cost. This suggests that bridging technology such as gas engine is important to expand the hydrogen demand in the early stage of dissemination of hydrogen.

Japan’s hydrogen utilization initiatives are currently limited to the widespread use of fuel cell equipment, but further measures seems to be needed for the H₂ station business to be profitable.

H2ICE conversion technology and business, which replaces fossil fuel with hydrogen used in internal combustion engines of power-hungry-engine systems such as heavy loaded trucks & trailers, heavy duty machines, electric power generators, and ships, will be discussed as another option.

Hydrogen energy is an efficient and clean secondary energy that plays an irreplaceable role in the construction of new clean energy systems. Based on this, China is undertaking great efforts to develop hydrogen energy with breakthroughs being made in various aspects of hydrogen energy technology. As a result, the hydrogen energy industry in China is rapidly growing and the layout of an entire industrial chain has taken basic form. Based on this developmental trend in the energy endowment and structure of China, this article will summarize supporting policies related to the development of China’s hydrogen energy industry and present an overview of the current status and prospects of China’s hydrogen energy technology and industry development.