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Building on a solid foundation
DWV comments on the Washington Conference on an international partnership on hydrogen energy
High-ranking politicians and experts from numerous countries will meet from 18. to 21. November in Washington to discuss the US proposal to establish an international partnership on hydrogen energy.
Hydrogen is a secondary energy carrier, which means that the primary energy necessary for its generation must be included in the picture. Only renewable energies can be the long-term basis for our energy supply. Using coal and/or nuclear power would have a positive short-term effect for the safety of the US energy supply, but would not make this planet more habitable.
- DWV therefore demands that European and Japanese politicians insist on the inclusion of the renewable primary energies as long-term objective in the documents.
But the introduction of renewables will take longer than we can wait for vehicles without or with significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
- DWV therefore demands that hydrogen from sources available today (excess amounts from chemical industry, overcapacities of power stations etc.) be used and that its application be made a part of the national energy policy of the participating countries.
While the political support from the side of the European Commission during the past months is considerable, it is not significant in financial terms. In all research and development programs hydrogen and fuel cell applications have to compete against other technologies of equal merit. Thus future technologies compete against each other while coal and nuclear power remain untouched; add to this the ever increasing administrative and financial demands to the contractors.
- DWV therefore demands that the support for hydrogen and fuel cells by the European Commission happen not only by top level declarations but that the topic be visible in the budget and in research programs. A participation of Europe in the international first league is not possible without a dedicated hydrogen and fuel cell budget.
Only ten years ago the appropriate place for such a conference as it will now be held in Washington would probably have been Germany. The international technological and political leadership in the field has long gone to the USA and Japan because the path was not followed to the end. High costs may be one argument, but part of this development was certainly due to a lack of political will on the side of the Federal Government.
- DWV therefore demands that the Federal Government support the activities of the international community with effective measures and assume again a pioneer role.
DWV will have its own representation at the conference apart from the delegation of the German government. We will keep you informed on an independent basis.
Published by the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV), Berlin
V. i. S. d. P.: Dr. Ulrich Schmidtchen, Berlin
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