Brussels, 10/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 October, the European Commission adopted two proposals, one to promote the development and sales of hydrogen-powered vehicles, the other on the development of the Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) for fuel cells and hydrogen. These proposals will now be examined by the Parliament and the Council.
Although a number of hydrogen cars are now ready to be brought onto the market, they are not currently included in the EU vehicle type-approval system which, the Commission explains, will lead to complicated and expensive approval procedures and prevent the vehicles from being sold on a uniform basis throughout the EU. The proposal therefore aims to include these vehicles in the type-approval system, thus guaranteeing that hydrogen vehicles sold in the EU are at least as safe as conventional vehicles. “Setting common standards will support the introduction of these vehicles and ensure high safety for citizens. It will also boost the competitiveness of European manufacturers”, stated the commissioner with responsibility for enterprise and industry, Günter Verheugen. It is all in the hands of the private sector: “it is an extremely promising sector”, he stressed, whilst adding that it would be impossible to replace all current vehicles with hydrogen-powered ones within the next five or six years. Given the uncertainties surrounding the creation of a market for hydrogen-powered cars by companies, Mr Verheugen was not in a position to state definitively that this was the technology of the future car. “It is a technological option”, he said. It will also be up to the hydrogen producers to distribute their product, by creating networks of fuel pumps. In Mr Verheugen's view, it is not up to the public authorities to do this. Hydrogen, furthermore, presents characteristics which are different from those of conventional fuels. It produces no carbon emissions (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons or particulates), or greenhouse gases. “The introduction of hydrogen vehicles has the potential to make Europe's air cleaner and reduces dependency on fossil fuels”, Mr Verheugen continued. He went on to say that even so, it was important to ensure that the production of hydrogen itself did not bring about any increase in CO2 emissions. This result can be achieved by producing hydrogen from non-fossil energy sources or by CO2 sequestration. And so, what of nuclear energy? Despite his opposition to nuclear, the commissioner stated that he could not be “against” the production of hydrogen from nuclear energy, as the EU currently has no “anti-nuclear policy”. It is “too soon” to decide on a hydrogen policy for the EU whilst other technologies are not available, he added.
The second proposal aims to create a public-private research partnership in the form of a joint technological initiative in favour of the development of hydrogen and fuel cells, with the long-term ambition of marketing these technologies. This public-private partnership, which will be driven by European industry, will be implemented over the next six years, by dint of an EU financial contribution of €470m under the seventh framework-programme of the EU. This envelope will be topped up by the same amount from the private sector. “Europe is facing major challenges to secure its energy supply, while combating climate change, preserving the environment, and maintaining a competitive economy. Technologies such as fuel cells and hydrogen can help us tick all the boxes”, said Research Commissioner Janez Potoènik. Thanks to the JTI, the commissioner has stated that he hoped to “reduce access time to the sales” of hydrogen technology to “between two and five years”. He went on to add that “in the automotive sector, that will bring us to 2012-2015”. Fuel cells are highly effective energy conversion devices. They can be used, for example, for a whole range of products, such as mobile phones and portable computers, cars, buses, boats and aircraft, and in fixed heat and energy production devices in the domestic and industrial sectors. Various obstacles, only some of which are of a technical nature, have still to be removed before these technologies can become widely available for sale. With regard to this, it is worth highlighting the cost and longevity of fuel cells, the sustainable production of hydrogen and the safe and effective distribution and storage of hydrogen, for mobile applications in particular. The EU27 research ministers reached consensus at the end of September on the form to be taken by JTIs in the future, i.e. Community bodies (EUROPE 9512). The legal base of the JTIs is article 171 of the Treaty. The only joint project which has so far been launched on the basis of this article is the joint company Galileo. (bc)