By starting to act now, hydrogen has the potential to reduce total road transport CO2 emissions in a cost-effective way by 50 percent in 2050. Within the context of the HyWays project, a Roadmap and an Action Plan for the introduction of hydrogen into the European energy system have been developed in a joint cooperation between leading industry partners, institutes and energy agencies.

The Roadmap was recently published by the European Commission. Hydrogen is an energy carrier with zero carbon content. Just like electricity, hydrogen can be produced from all energy resources, such as biomass, wind and solar energy, clean fossil fuels and nuclear energy. It can be converted to power and heat with high efficiency and zero emissions, especially when used in fuel cells. It improves security of supply due to the decoupling of demand and resources, This will have a positive effect on supply security, and provide new options for increased sustainability of the transport sector. Even though substantial investments must be made in the initial phase of the ongoing development of hydrogen applications and the construction of an infrastructure, hydrogen could become cost-effective in the long term. The transition to a hydrogen economy will not happen autonomously. For this reason, technology specific policy support is needed as well as general long-term stimulating policies focussing on sustainability.

Analyses and Action
HyWays, a European research project in which ECN was one of the main partners, has recently presented the European Roadmap and Action Plan for the introduction of hydrogen into the energy system. In the Roadmap, potential consequences in the short and long term for the European economy, society at large and the environment are presented. The ten countries involved with this project are Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Great Britain. In the related Action Plan, the policy framework that will enable large-scale introduction of hydrogen, and the actions required for the implementation of hydrogen as an energy carrier is outlined.

Hydrogen in Europe
Hydrogen is an option that offers a high potential with respect to emission reduction, improvement of security of supply and energy conservation. The transition to hydrogen offers an economic opportunity to strengthen Europe?s position in car and energy equipment manufacturing. The net impact on employment, assuming import/export shares do not change, amount to 200,000 - 400,000 labour years by 2030. The introduction of hydrogen in road transport contributes to a noticeable improvement of air quality in the short to medium term. This holds specifically for the most polluted areas such as city centres where the sense of urgency is greatest.

For Harm Jeeninga, ECN project manager for HyWays, the publication of the Roadmap was a real break through. ?The most important achievement of the HyWays project is that a large number of key stakeholders with very different interests developed a common vision and currently support this. This is the first, but essential step on the road to realising a sustainable transport system.?

The transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a hydrogen economy will require gradual transition and careful planning from the start. Europe has an opportunity to take a leadership position. However, the first steps must be taken now, if Europe does not want to miss the boat. In the first place, costs of hydrogen end-use application must be substantially reduced through up-scaling of production and increasing R&D. Secondly, the required infrastructure for hydrogen must be set up simultaneously. The analysis shows that under favourable conditions the break-even point, the point when hydrogen can compete with traditional fossil fuels like petrol and diesel, can be reached between 2025 and 2035. In the early commercialisation phase, technology-specific deployment support and R&D must go hand-in-hand. A European public-private partnership between industry and the EC, such as a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI), is the most suitable framework to meet these conditions.

Information:
More information on the HyWays project and reports is available on the website of HyWays and on the website of the European Commission.

Contact:
Harm Jeeninga
ECn Policy Studies
Tel. (+31) 224 - 564788
jeeninga@remove-this-part-ecn.nl