Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

Considerable progress towards the vision of a global hydrogen economy has been achieved in recent years. Large-scale, long-term research, development, demonstration and deployment investments to advance hydrogen and fuel cell technologies have been realized in the public and private sectors (IEA, 2004). Yet, decades of work may remain, including the unfinished business of developing an infrastructure for the hydrogen economy, if the research and development successfully meets consumer demands and makes a business case. Over 400 significant hydrogen and fuel cell technology demonstration and deployment projects in the stationary power and transport sectors have been funded and constructed around the world (see IPHE web site). Many of the early transport projects have focused on hydrogen production facilities, hydrogen fueling stations for vehicles, and vehicle/fleet trials. A fair number of hydrogen highway projects have been announced, planned or are under construction in North America, Europe and Japan. An equally robust number of demonstration and deployment projects have been realized in the distributed energy sector, including recent announcements to build 500 MW hydrogen fueled power plants. Public-private partnerships are the foundation for most of these activities. Most countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and a handful of developing countries employ hydrogen and fuel cell technology roadmaps to guide their investments. These roadmaps have proven highly valuable in coordinating public and private sector research and development investments in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The transition of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace has many barriers. The relatively slow capital stock turnover in the energy sector and the long lead time required for energy sector infrastructure investments requires careful planning. Some countries have begun strategic planning of future hydrogen economy infrastructure investments. Strategic planning for the hydrogen economy seems especially important given current energy security and economic prosperity goals of OECD and non-OECD countries. Strategic planning, via public-private partnerships, can be useful in sending appropriate signals to the marketplace.