To the untrained eye, this street sweeper looks like a normal municipal vehicle. But underneath, it's a glimpse of the future – it runs on hydrogen.

Launched in the town of Hoogezand in the Netherlands, the machine was originally built to run on diesel. But thanks to Dutch firm Holthausen and Finnish manufacturer Visedo, it now uses a hydrogen fuel cell for propulsion.

That means that the operator fills the tank with hydrogen, which the machine then uses to create the electricity that drives its powertrain. The only emission from this process is pure water.