Emission statement
A racing car that runs on hydrogen - the most abundant gas in the universe - and leaves no carbon footprint proves there's a future for the technology, writes co-driver Matthew Marsh
In more than two decades as a racing car driver, I've been behind the wheel of a wide variety of amazing vehicles. Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, prototypes, go-karts - you name it, I've driven it. And they all had one thing in common: they were powered by a petrol-fuelled internal combustion engine.
However, my latest race, the Nürburgring 24 Hours in Germany, was different. I was driving the rarest Aston Martin in the world - so rare, in fact, that there is only one. It propelled three co-drivers - including Aston Martin chief executive Ulrich Bez, who at 69 is still an enthusiastic racer - and me into the record books.
The Hybrid Hydrogen Rapide S lacks a sexy name, but it does what it says on the tin. It can run on pure petrol, pure gaseous hydrogen, or a blend of both. Plus, in the course of finishing the gruelling Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race around the famous Nordschleife circuit last month, it became the first hydrogen-powered racing car to complete laps in an international event with zero carbon dioxide emissions.
It was also an engineering achievement of global significance. Given that the earth has a finite amount of crude oil, the search for future energy sources for vehicles has been going on for years. Electric vehicles are popular but, for all their green qualities, have some significant drawbacks, including battery weight, charging time and "range anxiety" - running out of power before you reach your destination.
But bear in mind that the car industry is equivalent to the fourth-largest economy in the world. It has benefited from a mind-boggling level of investment, and the result is the highly advanced state of the internal combustion engine. Fighting this global behemoth would appear illogical.
From there emerged the idea of using hydrogen within the existing format of the internal combustion engine. Such a hybrid sidesteps the battery weight problem, overcomes range anxiety and reduces carbon emissions.