EU proposes to fund hydrogen vehicle development

Wed 10 October 2007 View all news

The European Union has proposed a project worth up to €1 billion to fund development of hydrogen-powered cars. The EU says that it is pursuing the hydrogen option as it has the potential to cut pollution and improve energy security.

In addition to the funds for research, the Commission also proposes to standardise rules for hydrogen car manufacturers in order to do away with the current patchwork of national regulations that makes it costly to develop such vehicles. The EU said it would contribute €470 million to the six-year project and called on companies to match those funds toward the goal of creating commercial vehicles by 2020. The move was welcomed by the European automobile manufacturers association, ACEA which indicated BMW, Fiat and Daimler would be likely to contribute.

Shell Petroleum also committed to supporting the proposal by contributing millions of euros in funding support in order to faciliate demonstration projects and the provision of hydrogen pumps.

Environmental groups criticised the initiatives, citing evidence that hydrogen production can waste a significant amount of energy. Several 'green' groups also stressed that production of hydrogen powered cars on a commercially viable scale is still at least ten years away, whilst hybrid and electric vehicles were a more promising option.

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