Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland, and the Hydrogen Accelerator from the University of St Andrews are working with hydrogen fuel cell experts Arcola Energy to bring the project to life.<\/p>\n
[Read: Meet the 4 scale-ups using data to save the planet<\/span><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n Perhaps the best bit is that engineers are going to convert an existing ScotRail locomotive, rather than building an entirely new train.<\/p>\n Scotland\u2019s Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said it could have a dramatic impact on the country\u2019s decarbonization<\/p>\n \u201cOur Rail decarbonization Action Plan sets out to make our passenger railways emissions free by 2035, but to maximize our climate change ambitions, there is also a requirement to look at what we do with retired stock. If we can bring those back into use in a carbon-neutral way, there are huge climate gains to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n If successful, it could lead to dramatic reductions in CO2 generated during the production of the new energy vehicle. The conversion comes as a test to see what else the country can do to reach its goal of decarbonizing rail travel by 2035.<\/p>\n Scotland\u2019s ambitions to convert a train to hydrogen power first surfaced last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Engineers now say they will have the train finished within 10 months and that it will form a centerpiece at the UN\u2019s COP26 climate conference to be held in Glasgow in November.<\/p>\n Scotland won\u2019t be the first to put it into practice though. Germany got some of the first custom-built hydrogen trains back in 2018.<\/p>\n What makes Scotland\u2019s experiment so unique, is that it\u2019s taking an existing train, gutting its old hardware and reusing its rolling gear. In a world where we need to emphasize reusing and recycling, it\u2019s certainly setting a good example.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>SHIFT<\/a> is brought to you by Polestar. It\u2019s time to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. That is why Polestar combines electric driving with cutting-edge design and thrilling performance.<\/i> Find out how<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Published January 5, 2021 \u2014 15:29 UTC <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/01\/8fe45aad2358825899fc745c19f78c48.jpg\")
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