EU Policy News

Om March 30, 2008  the Council of the EU adopted a Directive (COM 2007/475) to promote energy efficient road transport vehicles in  public fleets. The Directive aims to stimulate the market for clean and efficient vehicles and to prompt developments and investments by the industry. Increased sales will help reduce costs through economies of scale and will result in progressive improvement in the energy and environmental performance of the whole vehicle fleet. The new measures extend to all purchases of road transport vehicles by public authorities or by transport operators charged with public service obligations. The Directive requires that energy and environmental impacts linked to the operation of vehicles over their whole lifetime are taken into account in purchase decisions. These lifetime impacts of vehicles shall include at least energy consumption, CO2 emissions and emissions of the regulated pollutants of NOx (nitrogen oxide), NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbons) and particulate matter. Purchasers may also consider other environmental impacts. Two options are offered to meet the requirements: setting technical specifications for energy and environmental performance, or including energy and environmental impacts as award criteria in the purchasing procedure.If the impacts are monetised for inclusion in the purchasing decision, common rules shall be followed, [...]

The US National Hydrogen Association, NHA,  released a new report called the “Energy Evolution:  An Analysis of Alternative Vehicles and Fuels to 2100″ showing that a scenario which initially includes a mix of alternative vehicles, and is later dominated by hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles sales is the only way to simultaneously cut U.S. greenhouse gas pollution by 80% below 1990 levels; reach petroleum quasi-independence by mid-century; and eliminate nearly all controllable air  pollution by the end of the century.  The report also shows that an expansion of hydrogen stations in the US is more affordable than most people think: $9 billion to add 6,500 hydrogen dispensers to gasoline stations over 10 years . A task force of experts conducted the “Energy Evolution” analysis under the leadership of Xcel Energy’s Frank Novacheck, and reviewend by the U.S Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and U.S. Fuel Cell Council have reviewed the report.To download the report please visit the NHA site.

From this June a Skoda fuel cell hybride bus, powered by a 48 kW Proton Motor fuel cell and 22 Li-Ion batteries and 4 ultra capacitors, will be touring Neratovice in the Central Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. The bus will have a range of 250 km and stores hydrogen at 350 bar. The hydrogen is produced off site by the Linde Group.  Storage will be upgraded to 700 bar. The bus has been funded by EU Strucutral funds and the Czech Ministry of Transport. The project is coordinated by the Nuclear Research Insitutute Rez.  The institute is hosting the Czech Hydrogen Technology Platform who just applied for membership to the EHA.

On the occasion of the 24 th Electric, Fuel Cell and Hybrid Vehicle Symposium in Stavanger May 11-13, 2009, HyNor the Norwegian Hydrogen HyWay consortium is organizing a Hydrogen Road Tour from Oslo to Stavanger. The event,  a 570 km rally starting  the 11th of May 2009 will be arriving in Stavanger at the opening day of the  Symposiun.  The rally is also the official opening of the HyNor – The hydrogen road of Norway. For more information please visit www.hynor.no.

Through the Eco-innovation funding scheme, the EU supports innovative products, services and technologies that can make a better use of our natural resources and reduce Europe’s ecological footprint. With its objective to bridge the gap between research and the market, CIP Eco-innovation contributes to the implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP). There is nearly € 200 million available to fund Eco-innovation projects between 2008 and 2013. Some 40 projects around Europe are in the pipeline to receive the first funds under the 2008 call. Since April 16, 2009 the call 2009 is open. Deadline is September 10, 2009. Infodays are scheduled in London on April 30, Prague on  May 7-8 and Turin May 11.

The EHA was invited to the inauguration of the Hydrogen Region Flanders South Netherlands. The Flemish Minister of Industry, Enterprise, Research, Innovation and Trade, Patricia Ceyssens, on April 28, 2009  kicked off project that totals  € 14,1 mln. for three years to develop demonstration projects in the field of sustainable hydrogen production, portable refuelling stations, maritime and road transport vehicles and the use of waste hydrogen. Belgian based companies like  Solvay, Umicore, Hydrogenics, Imec en VanHool are supporting the project. According to the Flemish minister the active involvement of Belgian industry and SME’s convinced her to support the project that is partly finaced by the EU Interreg programme.

EHA attended the Convenant of the Mayors event organised by Energie Cités and the Climate Alliance who are both managing the new office of the Convenantin Brussels. There are now more than 450 cities member of the Convenant, which is supported by the European Commission.  The objective of the Convenant is through benchmarking of sustainable solutions and exchange of best practice facilitate CO2 reductions at local level that go beyond the 20% EU target. The Convenant in collaboration with the EU Joint Research Centres  is currently developing a model for benchmarking sustainable best practice.  The so-called Benchmarks of Excellence are a key element of the Covenant of Mayors. They are defined as those initiatives and programmes which represent a worldwide model of successful implementation of sustainable energy development concepts in urban settings. Any private or public body that has developed such a programme or initiative in at least one city and is endorsed by the Mayor of a city having signed up to the Covenant is eligible to apply to become Benchmark of Excellence to the Covenant of Mayors. The EHA has offered to facilitate input on hydrogen and fuel cell applications to ensure that they are included in the [...]

The EHA was invited to participate in an EU Policy Forum with Bosch and JTI at Hannover Fair. Dr. Richard Aumayer of  Bosch Automotive emphasized the importance of the right communication on future transport: Bosch anticipates that this future will consist of both battery and fuel cell vehicles. Gijs Vriesman, the newly elected chair of the JTI Governing Board, referred to the need for expectation management; although technical solutions are now within reach, all political and industrial effort is needed to create a commercial market for hydrogen applications. The EHA pointed to the need to engage more EU and national decision makers in hydrogen infrastructure development: hydrogen applications need to be integrated starting today to help allieviate acute problems as  for example local air pollution.

The US Department of Energy on May 7 announced significant cuts in  hydrogen transport  funding for 2010, as it says it will be concentrating  on near “term solutions as biofuels and batteries”. The situation in Europe seems quite different; taking into account the increasing funding levels of EU JTI Calls in the coming years and the start of national programmes in Germany and Scandanavian countries, combined with important developments at regional level throughout Europe. The EU in 2010 will actually spend more on hydrogen and fuel cell development than the US!  Unthinkable at  the start of the EU Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform in 2003 in the presence of  the US Secretary of Energy!  Europe  is well placed to become market leader in hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell system development.  With the US slowing down,  the EU together with European industry and research institutes should take this opportunity and accelerate their efforts to offer European consumers the first chance to benefit from the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier. The EHA is organizing the Second EHA national assocation event on June 17, 2009 to hear about recent national developments and discuss how Europe can leverage EU natioanl and [...]

On 21. April Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel together with Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Platzeck laid the foundation stone for the first industrial hybrid power station in the world. It is developed and built by ENERTRAG. The plant will harness wind to produce electricity as per conventional wind turbines. But when there is too much wind for the grid to handle, that excess energy will be converted via electrolysis – the separation of chemical compounds by electric current – into hydrogen for storage. This hydrogen can then be mixed with biogas at a later stage and converted back into energy that can be used to power homes. The renewable energies company responsible for the project, Enertrag, says the process is carbon free and comes at no cost to the environment. Merkel said the first-of-its-kind project offers a glimpse into the future of clean energy production. “I am glad that an enterprise from the Uckermark (region) has developed this trendsetting project. The combination of renewable energy and energy storage will be a determining factor in a steady and climate-acceptable energy supply,”  Chancellor Merkel said at the foundation stone-laying ceremony. Lutz Metz of the Environmental Policy Research Unit at the Free University in Berlin [...]