Recently, there have been publications reporting the use of urea, as a source of hydrogen/fuel cell power. There have however been no reports that singularly assess the suitability of urea for this purpose. This article provides not only a perspective on the attributes of urea ((NH₂)₂CO) as a hydrogen carrier for fuel cells but also presents the findings of a review on the feasibility of utilising the enormous natural resource of urea that exists. Urea is a cheap and widely available commodity with well developed manufacturing infrastructure and a rapidly increasing volume of production. This offers rapid implementation of urea for application as a hydrogen carrier either directly or as a source of ammonia. Compared with other industrial chemicals previously considered, urea has the advantages of being non-toxic, stable, and therefore easy to transport and store. This report reveals that the natural resource of urea could be a solution to long-term future sustainable hydrogen supply and that the present status of scientific knowledge necessary to extract this natural resource is in the most part understood. It is considered realistic that these sustainable routes could be exploited if they are given sufficient focus of research attention.

This study investigated the cost competitiveness, using total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis, of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in heavy duty on and off-road fleet applications as a key enabler in the decarbonisation of the transport sector and compares results to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and diesel internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Assessments were carried out for a present day (2021) scenario, and a sensitivity analysis assesses the impact of changing input parameters on FCEV TCO. This identified conditions under which FCEVs become competitive. A future outlook is also carried out examining the impact of time-sensitive parameters on TCO, when net zero targets are to be reached in the UK and EU. Several FCEVs are cost competitive with ICEVs in 2021, but not BEVs, under base case conditions. However, FCEVs do have potential to become competitive with BEVs under specific conditions favouring hydrogen, including the application of purchase grants and a reduced hydrogen price. By 2050, a number of FCEVs running on several hydrogen scenarios show a TCO lower than ICEVs and BEVs using rapid chargers, but for the majority of vehicles considered, BEVs remain the lowest in cost, unless specific FCEV incentives are implemented. This paper has identified key factors hindering the deployment of hydrogen and conducted comprehensive TCO analysis in heavy duty on and off-road fleet applications. The output has direct contribution to the decarbonisation of the transport sector.