Brussels, 11/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 October, several MEPs were at odds over proposals made that same day by the Commission on hydrogen cars and hydrogen technologies (EUROPE 9520). Vittorio Prodi (ALDE, Italy) was among those who applauded the new proposals. “The European Commission is keeping up with the time for a new energy policy. (…) The economy, the labour market and the environment could profit equally from these initiatives”, he states in a press release. Joe Leinen (PES, Germany) spoke along the same lines, mainly with regard to making €470 million available for research, as foreseen by the Commission, to finance the joint technological initiative for fuel cells and hydrogen. “That's an attractive offer for science and economy to herald a new industrial revolution in the energy sector”, he said. On the other hand, Claude Turmes (Greens, Luxembourg), an energy expert, said “it is regrettable that the European Commission is still wasting time flogging the dead horse of hydrogen cars when even the car industry itself has abandoned the dream that the technology will be viable in the near future”. In his view, there are real solutions to the environmental damage caused by vehicle emissions and these solutions will deliver real results in the short term, such as through the enforcement of ambitious efficiency standards or the promotion of hybrid vehicles. “The Commission should have the courage to promote these solutions as part of a sustainable transport policy and not hide behind smokescreens like hydrogen cars”, he concluded. When speaking to the press, Günter Verheugen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, was cautiously optimistic about the future market for hydrogen cars. He was far more enthusiastic about projects aimed, for example, at developing new “high performance” batteries that are recharged from the electricity supply. In his view, a “promising” solution would be hybrid cars that use not only high performance batteries but also the traditional engine. (bc)