Clean energy gets a boost, September 2002

The European Commission has announced that it is to establish a High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies. Speaking at Germany's Jülich Research Centre on 10 September, the European Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin, said the Group will examine the role of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in a 'new energy era'.

The High Level Group will include representatives from research centres, energy providers, automotive companies, public transport bodies and manufacturers of fuel cell systems and components. Its purpose will be to steer the Union's strategic research priorities and to identify possible commercial applications which could help the technology become competitive.

Hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the future, which could potentially provide energy for everything - 'from mobile telephone batteries to bus engines'. Because the only by-product is water vapour, hydrogen offers a source of clean energy in line with the European Union's commitment to sustainable development. It is also seen as offering a 'bridging technology' which would help in the transition from a fossil-based energy policy to a regime based more on renewable energy.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8% compared to 1990 levels by 2008-2012. At the same time, the EU is seeking to double the contribution of renewable energies, from 6% to 12% by 2010. Greater use of hydrogen would help meet that objective.

The EU is keen not only to develop sustainable energy sources for environmental reasons, but also to ensure the security of future energy supplies (the Member States' dependency on oil is increasing, with imports currently accounting for 50% of oil used - a figure set to rise to as much as 90% by 2020).

According to Commissioner Busquin, 'Hydrogen marks a revolution in how energy can be produced and stored - until now in the 'fossil fuel civilisation', we have been trying to strike a balance between the need to foster economic growth and at the same time to ensure this has a minimum impact on the environment. With an extensive use of hydrogen as an energy carrier, this conflict will be resolved.'

However, hydrogen is currently expensive and its use is severely limited by distribution and storage problems. Research in Europe is both fragmented and costly - although the EU lags behind the USA and Japan in public funding for research into hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. EU support for research is seen as important for a number of reasons:

• a pan-European strategy, based on Member States' strengths and capabilities, should help ensure that national research efforts complement EU-level activities under the Framework programmes and that technologies are standardised
• - it should help Europe exploit the economic benefits of developing new technologies
• - it should help make the technology more competitive, especially with the USA

Links:

European Commission:
	10.09.02:	Press Release: Commission to launch High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technologies [IP/02/1282]
	10.09.02:	DG Research: Why are research and development needed for hydrogen?

European Sources Online:
	In Focus: 'The Security of Europe's Energy Supply'
	Topic Guide: 'Energy Policy'

Eric Davies
KnowEurope Researcher
Compiled: Wednesday, 11 September 2002

The European Commission has announced that it is to establish a High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies.