WRITTEN QUESTION E-1697/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Promotion of hydrogen-driven cars

Hydrogen has been used for generations as a raw material for industry and an energy source. In the automobile industry hydrogen-driven engines have been tested since the nineteen seventies and have proven to be a real alternative to the usual petrol-driven combustion engines. Greater use of this technology could substantially reduce the greenhouse effect, 10 % of which is caused by road traffic worldwide.

Can the Commission say how it is promoting this development via research activities or other programmes?

Can the Commission also say whether it is working on the legal, economic and organisational framework conditions to ensure that hydrogen can be supplied as fuel at competitive prices and in sufficient quantities in areas where traffic is a particular problem?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

The Commission has been aware for many years of the possibility and potential of a change from fossil fuels to hydrogen. Transport especially is almost entirely dependent on petroleum (more than 98 %), and this is why the Green Paper on the security of energy supply(1) triggered the debate on the choice of alternative fuels for transport. In addition, the Commission is currently preparing a communication on alternative fuels and vehicles. At present it seems very unlikely that hydrogen will have much to contribute before 2010, but it will have to play a major role if the ambitious goals for 2020 are going to be attained.

Hydrogen could provide an answer to the problems of air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, security of energy supply and dependence on petroleum products all at the same time.

Accordingly, the Framework Programme for research and technological development, and its Non-Nuclear Energy programme in particular, has supported a significant number of projects on the production and storage of hydrogen or the development of fuel cells. Up to now, support given by the Commission in the Fifth Framework Programme amounts to more than 95 million, basically allocated to fuel cells, the production and storage of hydrogen from different sources, the development of norms and standards, safety, the distribution infrastructure, and the development and demonstration of fuel cell vehicles.

The Commission is currently supporting several large-scale research and technological development projects:

- the FUERO project (total cost 38 million, Community contribution 21,3 million), is developing components and systems for fuel cells and hydrogen-powered vehicles. 67 European organisations from 13 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Great Britain, Norway, the Czech Republic and Israel) and several European motor manufacturers are actively participating in FUERO;

- the CUTE and ECTOS projects: 10 European cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Oporto, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Stuttgart) are to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for their public transport buses (using fuel cells). Each city will produce the hydrogen locally, build hydrogen service stations and have three buses in commercial operation in their public transport systems for two years;

- the Commission is in the process of setting up several actions to study the feasibility of a Europe-wide infrastructure for supplying hydrogen as fuel and the legal, economic, environmental, social and organisational problems of setting up such a cross-border infrastructure.

(1) COM(2000) 769 final.