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Hydrogen and the EU Economic Recovery Plan.

January 29, 2009

The Commission unveiled a € 3,5 bln proposal for a Regulation to grant Community support to strategic energy projects that is part of its Economic Recovery Plan . A total of € 3.5 billion is proposed for investment in carbon capture and storage (financial envelope: €1,250 million), offshore wind projects (€500 million), and gas and electricity interconnection projects (€1,750 million). In the annex of the proposal 5 carbon capture and storage projects are listed that will employ the pre combustion technology allowing for hydrogen production as a by product: in two plants in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and in Kingsnorth, Longannet and Tilbury in the UK. Two Grid integration projects for off shore wind plants in the Baltic Sea and North Sea (demonstration of a virtual off shore power plant) receiving each € 150 mln. could also be of hydrogen interest.

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Daimler starts small series production of fuel cell vehicles in summer 2009.

January 28, 2009

In an interview with the German car magazine “Auto Motor und Sport” on January 28, 2009 Daimler’s CEO, Dieter Zetsche announced the start of small series production of fuel cell cars from the middle of 2009. Daimler is looking to reach annual production numbers of 100.000 vehicles in four to five years at a cost comparable, to Bluetec hybride cars, that only recently seemed far fetched according to Mr. Zetsche.

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Monthly reports 2008/2009

January 28, 2009

Monthly report – January 2008 Monthly report - February 2008 Monthly report - March 2008 Monthly report - April 2008 Monthly report - May 2008 Monthly report – June 2008 Monthly report – July 2008 Monthly report - August 2008 Monthly report - September 2008 Monthly report - October 2008 Monthly report - November 2008 Monthly report - December 2008

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EHA Board discusses cooperation with new JTI interim director.

January 27, 2009

The EHA Board invited the new interim director of the JTI, Philippe Vannson, to its last meeting last Janaury 27 in Brussels to discuss topics for cooperation. The EHA has sent a letter to the JTI Governing Board offering the expertise of its members to facilitate harmonisation of authorisation procedures in Europe, to support the development of Regualtions Codes and Standards, to disseminate orelevant JTI project results through EHA’s national and local channels and to work on technology benchmarking. The EHA suggested also to collaborate to ensure that future EU’s transport and energy policy actively support the development of a commercial market for hydrogen and fuel cell applications. The recently approved EU Directive on the Emission Trading System (ETS) for example includes hydrogen production installation and the EHA has asked the EU Commission to be included in the planned benchmarking hearings on earmarking odf ETS revenues.

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Hydrogen and Fuel Cells as Strong Partners of Renewable Energy Systems

January 25, 2009

As  the  EU  Strategic  Energy  Technology  Plan  is pointing  out  in  its  Technology  Map “The  possible competition  for primary energy sources  for hydrogen production  and  other  sectors  of  activities  indicates a  need  for  synergies  and  coordination  between policies and industrial sector strategies”. From today’s observations,  there  also  will  be  a  mix  of  different solutions suited to  individual mobility needs. This will include shifts in the modal split. The  European  Hydrogen  Association,  EHA,  in collaboration  with  the German  Hydrogen  and  Fuel Cell  Association,  DWV,  present  this  brochure  as a  contribution  to  this  discussion  describing  how hydrogen  could  accelerate  the  use  of  sustainable primary energy sources in our future energy system in Europe by  integrating hydrogen as a storage medium and as a fuel in Europe’s transport systems. Therefore, renewable  energies  and  hydrogen  form  a  perfect alliance from an energy system’s point of view.

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Where will the energy for hydrogen production come from?

January 25, 2009

In recent years, the question has been asked repeatedly “Where will the hydrogen come from?” This question is important, but can only be answered if one considers a more fundamental question “where will our energy come from in the coming decades?” Today it mainly comes from finite fossil and nuclear energy carriers; in the long term, it will come from renewable energies. The basic question of availability of raw energy materials is to be covered in this brochure and an answer proposed.

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City of CO2penhagen orders hydrogen vehicles.

January 23, 2009

The Copenhagen City Council plans to purchase 15 hydrogen-powered vehicles to showcase the local authority’s sustainable energy initiatives in time for the Copenhagen Climate Conference. The City  is pushing ahead with plans to purchase 15 adapted electric cars at a cost of 14 million kroner. Deputy Mayor for the technical and environmental administration, Klaus Bondam said the city has an order for 13 cars from the Norwegian company Think and two work vehicles from French company Mega, together with plans to build a recharging station for the cars’ hydrogen fuel cells.

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Introduction

January 23, 2009

January marked the start of a crucial year for the EU at a critical moment for the hydrogen and fuel cell industry in Europe. Most of the  massive economic recovery plans that are being announced at EU and national level all link financial support are linked to sustainable development. The EHA Board on Janaury  27 therefore discussed  a set of key messages that will be presented to EU and national decision makers to emphasize the key role of hydrogen as a clean energy vector to facilitate EU’s energy and tranport policy goals and stimulate economic recovery. In many European countries constructive efforts are underway (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Spain,  France, Italy) to establish national strategic alliances  mirroring the EU Joint Undertaking for fuel cells and hydrogen to support the uptake of the first applications. Many regions and large municipalities are important catalysts in this process. The EHA is committed to expand its support to these initiaitves in 2009. On March 4, 2009 in Brussels the EHA organizes a National Strategy Round Table and National Association Workshop at the EU project Roads2HyCom seminar on Regional development . For more information see under EHA in Action.

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Hydrogen Reformers and EU’s new Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive

January 22, 2009

The EU Parliament Environment Committee approved a report on the new Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive on Janaury 22, 2009 , that will require at least 52,000 industrial operators, including hydrogen production installations to obtain emission permits. In the proposed directive all hydrogen production installations require  the same authorisation procedure which makes it extremely difficult for installers of small units to create a market. The EHA therefore  has been informing lawmakers of this unjust treatment of smaller units at a time when the EU Joint Technology Initiaitve for hydrogen and fuel cells is trying to establish the first markets for hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. The revised text of the Directive will be submitted to the Parliaments plenary  in March, but  it seems unlikely that agreement would be reached with the Council before that date and a second-reading vote is necessary in the new Parliament after the election this June.

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EU Commissioner of Transport announced content Action Plan on Urban Transport.

January 21, 2009

The EU Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, in charge of Transport announced today the action plan at EU level to tackle the chronic problems created by transport in Europe’s towns and cities. Speaking at the CIVITAS II Final Conference, held in Toulouse on January 21, 2009, he noted that for Europe to meet its commitments on climate change, energy security and environmental pollution, all actors at EU level, cities, Member States and the EU, need to work together to find solutions to the congestion and environmental problems that plague our cities. Vice President Tajani emphasised his strong commitment to the adoption of a comprehensive Action Plan following extensive consultation on the Green Paper “Towards a new culture for urban mobility”, which the Commission published in 2007. He outlined in more detail the actions that will be launched by the Commission during 2009. These will include actions to assist public authorities with the implementation of a new Directive for promoting clean and energy-efficient vehicles, as well as funding support for pilot projects and studies on various aspects of sustainable urban mobility. Some 300 politicians and experts from over 20 countries gathered in Toulouse to discuss the findings of the 50M€ European [...]

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