Industry Wants European Hydrogen Development Boost
Date: 11-Jul-05
Country: NETHERLANDS
Public investments in Europe should be more than doubled to 250 million euros ($297.7 million) a year to be on a par with government efforts in Japan and the United States, the European Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technology Platform said in a strategic overview.
The platform is a policy advisory group made up of academics, corporate executives and civil servants.
European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik agreed that a budget increase was necessary and expressed disappointment about lack of commitment from member states.
"I'm very much disappointed in seeing that the fund is a kind of a reserve in the debate of ministers and prime ministers. In any proposal that came to the table, (it) was getting smaller and smaller," he said at the opening of a hydrogen and fuel cell test centre in Petten, Netherlands, on Thursday.
"I sincerely hope that the trend during the continuation of talks will change, and I sincerely hope that the parliament will express clearly ... that the doubling (of the budget) should take place," he added.
Hydrogen is an environment friendly fuel that, if processed in a fuel cell, generates only electricity and water. There is no output of carbon dioxide or toxic fumes and nanoparticles.
It is an electricity storage medium that can be produced with primary energy sources such as environment unfriendly fossil fuels, but also with wind and solar power systems.
The hydrogen platform expects that in 15 years time between one to five million hydrogen-fueled cars, trucks and buses will be on the European roads. Even when the hydrogen for those vehicles is produced with fossil fuels, their cell-powered engines will help to improve local air quality in cities.
The future of fuel cells for portable electronic devices such as phones and computers will be even bigger, with around 250 million portable cells expected to sell in 2020 alone, replacing current batteries that contain toxic heavy metals.
The transition to sustainable energy sources is necessary because of limited fossil fuel reserves, and the impact of carbon dioxide and other emissions to the air and the climate.
European funds are currently used to test hydrogen-fueled buses in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Lisbon.
DaimlerChrysler, which produces hydrogen-fueled buses, has said it expects the first commercially available hydrogen cars in 2012.
General Motors is also involved in the European public-private partnership to test hydrogen cars and buses.
