Fact Sheet: U.S.-EU Cooperation on Hydrogen Energy
(Issued in conjunction with June 25, 2003 U.S.-EU Summit) (920)The White House issued the following fact sheet on efforts by the
United States and the European Union to develop a hydrogen fuel
economy, in conjunction with the U.S.-EU Summit June 25 in Washington:
(begin fact sheet)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
June 25, 2003
FACT SHEET
U.S.-EU SUMMIT: COOPERATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HYDROGEN ECONOMY
On June 25, 2003, the United States and the European Union agreed to
collaborate on the acceleration of the development of the hydrogen
economy.
-- Both President Bush and European Commisssion President Prodi have
made the development of a hydrogen economy a major priority.
-- President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiativve, announced on January 28,
2003, envisions the transformation of the nation's transportation
fleet from a near-total reliance on petroleum to steadily increasing
use of clean-burning hydrogen.
-- President Prodi at the European Union Juune 16-17 High Level Group
on Hydrogen and Fuel cells Conference noted that hydrogen now looks
like the best candidate to address sustainable development.
-- On June 16, Secretary Abraham and Europeean Commissioner for
Research Busquin signed the Cooperation in the Area of Fuel Cells, an
annex to the 2001
Non-Nuclear Science & Technology Agreement
-- U.S.-EU collaboration on the developmentt of a hydrogen economy will
provide a strong foundation for the International Partnership for the
Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), announced by the United States in April of
this year. It will enable the U.S. and EU to:
- further the goals of sustained economic ggrowth;
- strengthen our cooperation to work for unniversally compatible codes,
standards, and regulations;
- strengthen our cooperation on research annd development; and
- work together to foster public-private coollaboration.
Background: Development of a Hydrogen Economy
-- President Bush's $1.2 billion [$1,200 miillion] hydrogen fuel
initiative aims to reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil
by accelerating the commercialization of hydrogen-powered fuel cells
to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses with no pollution or
greenhouse gases.
-- The Hydrogen Fuel Initiative will includde $720 million in new
funding over the next five years to develop the technologies and
infrastructure to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in
fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation. Combined with the
FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) initiative, President
Bush is proposing a total of $1.7 billion [$1,700 million] over the
next five years to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen
infrastructure and advanced automotive technologies.
-- This June, Secretary Abraham served as tthe keynote speaker at the
European Unions June 16-17 High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel cells
Conference. In Secretary Abraham's speech he noted, "working together
with international partners, we can leverage scarce resources and
advance the schedule for research, development and deployment of the
hydrogen production, storage, transport and end-use technologies."
-- Under the President's hydrogen fuel inittiative, the first car
driven by a child born today could be powered by fuel cells. The
hydrogen fuel initiative complements the President's existing
FreedomCAR initiative, which is developing technologies needed for
mass production of safe and affordable hydrogen powered fuel cell
vehicles. Through partnerships with the private sector, the hydrogen
fuel initiative and FreedomCAR will make it practical and
cost-effective for large numbers of Americans to choose to use clean,
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2020. This will dramatically improve
America's energy security by significantly reducing the need for
imported oil, as well as help clean our air and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
-- In April of this year, Energy Secretary Abraham announced the
creation of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy --
designed to efficiently organize, evaluate and coordinate
multinational research, development and deployment of technologies
that advance the transition to a global hydrogen economy -- and
invited the European Union to join.
-- In May of this year, U.S. and EU hydrogeen technical experts met in
Brussels to identify potential areas for cooperation, including codes
and standards, fuel cell technology, production, and storage.
-- Hydrogen is the simplest element and mosst plentiful gas in the
universe. Yet hydrogen never occurs by itself in nature -- it always
combines with other elements such as oxygen and carbon. Once it has
been separated, hydrogen is the ultimate clean energy carrier. The
U.S. Space Shuttle program relies on hydrogen-powered fuel cells to
operate shuttle electrical systems, and the crews drink one of the
byproducts: pure water. Hydrogen is one of the most promising
alternatives to hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline.
-- Hydrogen can be produced from a wide varriety of domestic resources
using a number of different technologies. It can also provide a
storage medium for intermittent and seasonal renewable technologies,
and can be used in combustion processes and fuel cells to provide a
broad range of energy services such as lighting, mobility, heating,
cooling, and cooking.
-- The June 16 U.S.-EU Cooperation in the AArea of Fuel Cells Annex
identifies the following areas for cooperation:
a. Transportation demos, including fueling infrastructure;
b. Auxiliary Power Units (APUs);
c. Codes and standards including fuel infrastructure, vehicles, and
APUs;
d. Fuel choice studies and socio-economic and environmental assessment
(environmental technology assessment) of critical materials
availability for low temperature fuel cells;
e. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and high temperature fuel cell hybrid
systems;
f. Support Studies, including socio-economic assessment of critical
rare earth materials for high temperature fuel cells;
g. Direct methanol and Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
for transportation and stationary applications.
(end fact sheet)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
