Hype or the 'Holy Grail', hydrogen energy is set to follow in the footsteps of Galileo and become the next EU Joint Technology Initiative.

Background:

There are currently 29 European Technology Platforms (ETP), which are major large-scale research initiatives in key technology areas such as chemicals, nanotechnology, automobiles and food. 

They bring together companies, research institutions, the financial world and regulatory authorities to define a common Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) in a specific field. The SRA is the outcome of a stakeholder consensus and expresses the ambition and the long-term vision for that specific sector. 

The scope of the research objectives and the scale of the resources involved of such ETPs may justify setting up long term public private partnerships in the form of a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI). The JTIs will implement the Strategic Research Agenda of a specific European Technology Platform.  

JTIs combine private sector investment and national and European public funding, including grant funding from the EU Research Framework Programme and loan finance from the European Investment Bank. 

The only concrete example so far of a Joint Technology Initiative is the EU satellite navigation system Galileo. 

JTIs may be decided on the basis of Article 171 of the Treaty, or on the basis of specific programme decisions in accordance with Article 166 of the Treaty. 
Issues:

Hydrogen and fuel cells have been identified, in the Commission's proposal for FP7, as an area for a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI).

"I very much hope that in the near future we will have all the ingredients in place to go ahead with a decision on hydrogen 'JTI'," said the Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Poto?nik, Speaking at the World Hydrogen Energy Conference (WHEC) on 13 June 2006. 

The European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform was launched in 2004 and presented its strategic research agenda in March 2005 (see EurActiv 17 March 2005). The Platform aims at accelerating the development and deployment of these technologies in Europe. It helps to structure socio-economic and technical research on hydrogen and fuel cells at European level, and stimulates increased public and private investment in R&D. It also helps to develop awareness of fuel cell and hydrogen market opportunities and energy scenarios and fosters future co-operation.

"I believe that an industry-led Joint Technology Initiative can provide the European level platform necessary to make real progress. But we shall need a convincing Implementation Plan backed by the unambiguous commitment of all stakeholders including the member states and the collective will to establish a credible and viable public-private partnership," said Commissioner Poto?nik. 

The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform is currently preparing its implementation plan, a kind of a proposal for becoming a JTI. "This will be a key document. It will set out targets and priorities for integrated research and demonstration actions needed to take the hydrogen and fuel cells to market readiness in five to ten years," said Poto?nik.

In March 2006, the Commission published a Green paper on 'A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy', which opened the debate on a future common European energy policy. The public consultation will close on 24 September 2006.
Positions:

At least 120 stakeholders have already sent letters to European Commissioners and to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell platform secretariat in which they committed to support a JTI on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells.

"Hydrogen ticks all the right boxes in terms of the global policy benefits it can bring. It may, or may not be the 'Holy Grail' for energy, but I am convinced that it will play a major role in our future energy systems," said Commissioner Poto?nik.

Hydrogen face some challenges, though. First, it is not a new energy source, but an energy carrier. Hydrogen needs to be produced using other energy sources and, therefore, the hydrogen energy will only be as clean as the original energy source it is made from (coal, nuclear, natural gas, or renewables). Secondly, production of hydrogen is still very expensive and a hydrogen economy would need a complete new energy infrastructure, expected to cost hundreds of billions of euros.

Not all energy experts are convinced about the future of the hydrogen economy. In a paper entitled 'Does the hydrogen economy make sense', Ulf Bossel of the European Fuel Cell Forum challenges the hydrogen promoters by saying that their claims do not respect the energy conservation principle, one of the fundamental laws of physics. He sees the future of sustainable energy being built on a renewed "electron economy" infrastructure instead of a hydrogen one.

Latest & next steps:

    * A preparatory meeting of the Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) on hydrogen and fuel cells will take place on 29 June 2006. 
    * As communicated in a working document in June 2005, the Commission is promoting Joint Technology Initiatives also on innovative medicines, nanoelectronics, embedded computing systems, aeronautics and air traffic management and global monitoring for environment and security. Further JTIs may be identified during the implementation of FP7.
 

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