Nitrogen engine.

[Freizeitpilot]

Extract from AFR…….

 

Labor has quietly walked back a key plank of its plans to decarbonise Australia’s road freight industry, emptying an $80 million fund it set up three years ago to turbocharge the take-up of hydrogen-powered trucks.

Tuesday’s budget revealed that the government had removed $75 million of uncommitted funding from the Hydrogen Highways program, which was meant to encourage the use of hydrogen-fuelled trucks and the construction of charging stations along major freight routes.

[onetrack]

And the reason quoted by the current Labor Govt for removing that funding for hydrogen powered trucks, is because there was a major shortage of hydrogen-powered trucks available for testing and research work.

I'd suggest the reason there are virtually no hydrogen powered test trucks available, is because virtually all truck manufacturers see no potential in pursuing that market, simply because the economics fail to stack up, and the simple fact that an Australia-wide hydrogen-dispensing infrastructure is non-existent, and isn't likely to be installed, in the foreseeable future.

 

[spacesailor]

No infrastructure!  .

The same was said about LPG .Here on the East Coast. Not many servos don't a have LPG bowser .

spacesailor

[turboplanner]

37 minutes ago, onetrack said:

And the reason quoted by the current Labor Govt for removing that funding for hydrogen powered trucks, is because there was a major shortage of hydrogen-powered trucks available for testing and research work.

I'd suggest the reason there are virtually no hydrogen powered test trucks available, is because virtually all truck manufacturers see no potential in pursuing that market, simply because the economics fail to stack up, and the simple fact that an Australia-wide hydrogen-dispensing infrastructure is non-existent, and isn't likely to be installed, in the foreseeable future.

 

No, it's because we don't leach off Governments but spend our own money, get our own patents, research our own markets, research the supply infrastructure (I was hired to research Australia's Urea (AdBlue) network and then make big money getting a market advantage.)  The company that makes the finished product I showed a few days ago spends billions of dollars per year on research so will not miss the $75 million the Australian government was providing for ALL manufacturers and potential manufacturers. 

 

The people on this site squeal when there is an accident aircraft labelled "Cessna" but when they are discussing our Industry they don't take the same care to identify the sectors of the industry.

Edited March 27 by turboplanner

[turboplanner]

5 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

No infrastructure!  .

The same was said about LPG .Here on the East Coast. Not many servos don't a have LPG bowser .

spacesailor

LPG was not able to continue in the vehicle industry because nobody could find a way of making it meet the increasingly lower Australian Design Rules on emissions. The ADR system does allow existing vehicles to operate for the rest of their lives as long as someone keeps producing LPG.

[facthunter]

There's Plenty of servos in VIC that don't have LPG anymore.  Vic used to have the Most extensive coverage of any state. Nev

[Moneybox]

1 hour ago, spacesailor said:

No infrastructure!  .

The same was said about LPG .Here on the East Coast. Not many servos don't a have LPG bowser .

spacesailor

 

There was a big push and incentives for LPG vehicle conversions back in the 90's but you're flat finding any bowsers in WA now. They've all been removed, perhaps we ran out of gas 😉.

[onetrack]

There's still a lot of LPG bowsers in W.A., just not universal like they once were. A lot of forklifts still run on LPG, and I regularly fill my forklift bottles at LPG bowsers in servos.

What has disappeared, is the myriad of LPG installers and repairers, and suppliers of LPG equipment. But there's still plenty of LPG available, it's a byproduct of refining and gas production, and we still export sizeable tonnages of LPG.

[spacesailor]

We didn't " run out of gas " ! .

A ' jack boot johnny ' gave it away . At a price we didn't get to see ,

untill it was " stamped & sealed " .

spacesailor

[danny_galaga]

On 27/03/2025 at 1:42 PM, Moneybox said:

 

May be true however we have ample coal, oil and gas in Australia if we used our own. Why ship it out just to buy it back at inflated prices?

The end game is not to be burning it. 

[danny_galaga]

5 hours ago, turboplanner said:

No, it's because we don't leach off Governments but spend our own money, get our own patents, research our own markets, research the supply infrastructure (I was hired to research Australia's Urea (AdBlue) network and then make big money getting a market advantage.)  The company that makes the finished product I showed a few days ago spends billions of dollars per year on research so will not miss the $75 million the Australian government was providing for ALL manufacturers and potential manufacturers. 

 

The people on this site squeal when there is an accident aircraft labelled "Cessna" but when they are discussing our Industry they don't take the same care to identify the sectors of the industry.

Maybe because this is an aviation forum 🤷‍♂️

[turboplanner]

3 hours ago, danny_galaga said:

Maybe because this is an aviation forum 🤷‍♂️

Nothing to do with an aviation forum; it was a direct response to the quote above it.

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, turboplanner said:

Nothing to do with an aviation forum; it was a direct response to the quote above it.

I still shrug in your general direction 🤷‍♂️

 

😄

[ClintonB]

I toyed  with the idea of lpg for my Chrysler when I was young, fuel was 75c, and I thought it was a good idea to get lpg at around 35c.

got the shock of my life when I seen Melbourne fuel prices on my first trip there as a driver, 3 and 4cents per litre.

i never did go ahead with it, I bought a celica that got around for about a 1/4 of the Chrysler’s fuel use.

when I moved to W.A. I had a problem with my charger, and found a guy near the ferry terminal who tuned the 2 barrel properly. I had the best fuel economy ever travelling over there 4500km to my destination.

[Bernie]

My motorhome has a 60 lt gas tank I only turn it on when approaching a hill..I've only filled it once in two years that was January this year.

Bernie.

[BrendAn]

1 hour ago, Bernie said:

My motorhome has a 60 lt gas tank I only turn it on when approaching a hill..I've only filled it once in two years that was January this year.

Bernie.

I assume your talking about gas injected diesel power boost

[facthunter]

 Called "Diesel on Gas"   Added more Power and probably needed a bigger radiator.  Cleaner burning.  Nev

[Bernie]

I only use it for hills it's not on all the time.

Bernie.

[facthunter]

CAN the Topic be altered? There's no such thing as a nitrogen engine.  Nev

[BrendAn]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

CAN the Topic be altered? There's no such thing as a nitrogen engine.  Nev

i was scratching my head over this. isn't nitrogen a non flammable inert gas.

[kgwilson]

Just a comment on Electric trucks. There are plenty of these especially massive dump trucks in the mining industry, many of which are autonomous. The main reasons are reduced emissions (none out the non existent tail pipe), lower operating cost, improved safety and most of all improved performance especially on steep grades due to electric motors producing full torque from 0 rpm. 

https://reneweconomy.com.au/fortescue-strikes-4-billion-deal-for-electric-trucks-and-dozers-to-eliminate-fossil-fuels-at-giant-mines/

 

Also Janus Electric are converting diesel B-Double tractor units from diesel to electric and have a replaceable battery that can be swapped in 3 minutes and has 600km of range. The cost of conversion is apparently cheaper than a full diesel engine overhaul. They will operate on the main highway between Melbourne & Brisbane.

https://www.januselectric.com.au/

[onetrack]

And EV's won't really hit their straps until numerous models start offering swappable batteries. This is the total answer to "range anxiety".

If the main Tesla shareholder hadn't poo-pooed swappable batteries, Tesla could have been on a winner.

 

As it stands, they're on a hiding to nothing, once the Chinese EV's roll up with myriads of choices, including the swappable battery choice.

 

Nio have over 3000 battery-swap stations in China already and their 183 battery-swap stations in Shanghai carry out 9,000 battery swaps a day, very smoothly.

 

Imagine buying your electric ultralight - no need to fork out $40,000 to $60,000 for an IC power plant, you just buy a very efficient 100HP electric motor that converts its rotary power into propellor power simply and efficiently - then you simply rent the battery size you want for your trip.

 

When you land, a full battery is ready and waiting for your return trip. It's a no-brainer, no waiting for years for "hydrogen technology" to come to economic fruition, this is technology capable of being installed right now - and the operating costs would be affordable to anyone with modest income.

 

https://cnevpost.com/2025/02/10/nio-swap-stations-shanghai-close-to-profitability/

[danny_galaga]

6 hours ago, facthunter said:

CAN the Topic be altered? There's no such thing as a nitrogen engine.  Nev

I guess they were thinking of ammonia when they typed it?

[spacesailor]

Nitrogen,  could be used as a " compressed gas " the same as a ' steam engine ' .

No heat ! Can use plastic rings/sealing , with only friction to get worked up about .

spacesailor

[onetrack]

But you have to input a serious amount of energy to compress the gas, Spacey. There have been experiments using compressed air for motive power, but it's not a viable system over anything more than a short distance.

 

For machines or vehicles or equipment working over short distances in say, factories or other short-distance operations, it can work. The lack of fumes is a big factor.

 

However, even lead-acid batteries and electric motive power, are probably more efficient.