For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 25, 2003
Hydrogen Economy Fact Sheet
U.S.-EU Summit
Cooperation on the Development of a Hydrogen Economy
On June 25, 2003, the United States and the European Union agreed to
collaborate on the acceleration of the development of the hydrogen
economy.
Both President Bush and European Commission President Prodi have
made the development of a hydrogen economy a major priority.
President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, announced on January
28, 2003, envisions the transformation of the nation's
transportation fleet from a near-total reliance on petroleum to
steadily increasing use of clean-burning hydrogen.
President Prodi at the European Union June 16-17 High Level Group
on Hydrogen and Fuel cells Conference noted that hydrogen now
looks like the best candidate to address sustainable development.
On June 16, Secretary Abraham and European Commissioner for
Research Busquin signed the Cooperation in the Area of Fuel Cells,
an annex to the 2001 Non-Nuclear Science & Technology Agreement.
U.S.-EU collaboration on the development of a hydrogen economy
will provide a strong foundation for the International Partnership
for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), announced by the United States in
April of this year.
It will enable the U.S. and EU to: further
the goals of sustained economic growth; strengthen our
cooperation to work for universally compatible codes, standards, and
regulations; strengthen our cooperation on research and
development; and work together to foster public-private
collaboration.
Background: Development of a Hydrogen Economy
President Bush's $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel initiative aims to
reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by accelerating the
commercialization of hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power cars,
trucks, homes and businesses with no pollution or greenhouse gases.
The Hydrogen Fuel Initiative will include $720 million in new
funding over the next five years to develop the technologies and
infrastructure to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in
fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation.
Combined with the
FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) initiative, President Bush
is proposing a total of $1.7 billion over the next five years to
develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and
advanced automotive technologies.
This June, Secretary Abraham served as the keynote speaker at the
European Unions June 16-17 High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel cells
Conference.
In Secretary Abraham's speech he noted, " working
together with international partners, we can leverage scarce resources
and advance the schedule for research, development and deployment of
the hydrogen production, storage, transport and end-use technologies."
Under the President's hydrogen fuel initiative, the first car
driven by a child born today could be powered by fuel cells.
The
hydrogen fuel initiative complements the President's existing
FreedomCAR initiative, which is developing technologies needed for mass
production of safe and affordable hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles.
Through partnerships with the private sector, the hydrogen fuel
initiative and FreedomCAR will make it practical and cost-effective for
large numbers of Americans to choose to use clean, hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles by 2020.
This will dramatically improve America's energy
security by significantly reducing the need for imported oil, as well
as help clean our air and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In April of this year, Energy Secretary Abraham announced the
creation of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy --
designed to efficiently organize, evaluate and coordinate multinational
research, development and deployment of technologies that advance the
transition to a global hydrogen economy -- and invited the European
Union to join.
In May of this year, U.S. and EU hydrogen technical experts met in
Brussels to identify potential areas for cooperation, including codes
and standards, fuel cell technology, production, and storage.
Hydrogen is the simplest element and most plentiful gas in the
universe. Yet hydrogen never occurs by itself in nature, it always
combines with other elements such as oxygen and carbon. Once it has
been separated, hydrogen is the ultimate clean energy carrier.
The
U.S. Space Shuttle program relies on hydrogen-powered fuel cells to
operate shuttle electrical systems, and the crews drink one of the
byproducts: pure water. Hydrogen is one of the most promising
alternatives to hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline.
Hydrogen can be produced from a wide variety of domestic resources
using a number of different technologies. It can also provide a storage
medium for intermittent and seasonal renewable technologies, and can be
used in combustion processes and fuel cells to provide a broad range of
energy services such as lighting, mobility, heating, cooling, and
cooking.
The June 16 U.S.-EU Cooperation in the Area of Fuel Cells Annex
identifies the following areas for cooperation:
a. Transportation
demos, including fueling infrastructure;
b. Auxiliary Power Units
(APUs);
c. Codes and standards including fuel infrastructure,
vehicles, and APUs;
d. Fuel choice studies and socio-economic and
environmental assessment (environmental technology assessment) of
critical materials availability for low temperature fuel cells;
e.
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and high temperature fuel cell hybrid
systems;
f. Support Studies, including socio-economic assessment of
critical rare earth materials for high temperature fuel cells; g.
Direct methanol and Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells for
transportation and stationary applications.
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