Hydrogen Horizons: Unlocking Opportunities for UK Innovation Exploring China's hydrogen leadership, strategies for scaling fuel cell technology, and how UK businesses can seize untapped opportunities in clean energy.

Hydrogen is rapidly emerging as a critical player in the clean energy transition, with China leading the way in adoption and infrastructure. In this Entrepreneur UK interview with Dr Tom Mason, CEO and co-founder at Bramble Energy, a Crawley based technology company specialising in hydrogen fuel cell solutions, we look at how UK businesses can leverage these advancements, navigate policy challenges, and explore niche markets to drive hydrogen innovation.

What opportunities does China's hydrogen model present for UK businesses?
China is by far the global leader in hydrogen adoption, with significant traction across the sector. Most Chinese auto original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have advanced fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) developments and the country leads the world by a large margin in hydrogen infrastructure.

For UK businesses, the opportunity lies in China's strong appetite for breakthrough innovations. There's a willingness to test, validate and adopt new technologies that can enhance the development and deployment of hydrogen systems. This presents a unique chance for UK companies to collaborate, pilot and scale their innovations within a market that's driving global progress in hydrogen.

How can UK entrepreneurs leverage hydrogen in logistics and transport?
The first step is demonstrating that electrification through batteries isn't sufficient for their business model. If the onboard energy provided by batteries isn't adequate, or if downtime due to charging or insufficient charging infrastructure makes operations unviable, then hydrogen becomes a practical alternative.

The next step is centralised refuelling infrastructure, which is essential for hydrogen adoption. Then, entrepreneurs should focus on building a pilot program to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen for their specific logistics or transport needs. This approach allows them to assess the feasibility and benefits of hydrogen within their business model.

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What's Bramble Energy's approach to scaling affordable fuel cells?
Our approach to scaling is centred on utilising the existing PCB (Printed Circuit Board) supply chain, which eliminates the need for upfront investment to scale production. By leveraging a mature and validated supply chain, we achieve the lowest manufacturing cost base in the industry. Ultimately, this strategy enables us to drive the cost of fuel cells down while maintaining high standards of performance and reliability, making hydrogen power more accessible to a broader range of industries.

How can UK startups navigate policy shifts to drive hydrogen innovation?
With great difficulty. Right now, there's too much flux from a policy perspective to make long-term decisions. Startups should focus on where hydrogen solutions are already working effectively today, while also prioritising innovation in the areas where hydrogen isn't yet viable - those are the areas where breakthroughs are most urgently needed.

Can hydrogen make the UK a clean energy leader?
Hydrogen is certainly a vital piece of the puzzle, but it's not the whole solution. At best, hydrogen represents approximately 10-20% of the clean energy market - yet it's a critical 10-20%, tackling sectors that are the hardest to decarbonise - such as heavy-duty transport (e.g. trucks, buses, and ships), aviation, industrial processes like steel production, and remote or off-grid energy systems where batteries or electricity alone fall short.

While hydrogen alone won't make us a clean energy leader, neglecting it ensures we won't even be part of the clean energy race. Our hydrogen infrastructure for mobility, particularly for large vehicles, has dwindled to just three sites nationally, which is thanks to a combination of inconsistent policies, investment issues and a national focus on electrification over hydrogen. That's embarrassing for a country aspiring to lead in clean energy innovation. To regain credibility, we must commit to infrastructure rollouts and enable hydrogen's integration where it's most needed.

What's the biggest untapped market for hydrogen that UK entrepreneurs should explore?
Hydrogen isn't yet a practical fuel replacement on its own because it's still too expensive to be used widely without government subsidies, but it already works effectively in mobility when the entire value chain (the infrastructure, supply and technology to support it) is in place.

What we've found in our work at Bramble Energy is that success lies in looking at the entire business model, not just the cost of hydrogen itself. In other words, instead of focusing on how much energy (kWh) hydrogen produces, it's important to think about how it fits into larger systems and industries.

The biggest untapped markets are applications involving remote operations or temporary clean power, where systems are energy-limited and asset up-time is critical. This is equally relevant to powering a CCTV tower in a remote area as it is to running a bus on a rural route. These specific situations or industries aren't mainstream but have high potential for value and impact. In essence it's about looking for and seizing opportunities where hydrogen is the most suitable energy source, rather than trying to compete in areas where it doesn't have a clear advantage over other options.