Hydrogen energy could reduce oil consumption in road transport by 40%

A scientific project funded by the EU's research programme has found that introducing hydrogen into the energy system would reduce the total oil consumption by the road transport sector by 40% between now and 2050.

By taking a leading position in the worldwide market for hydrogen technologies, Europe can open new economic opportunities and strengthen its competitiveness.

But the analysis also states that transition won't happen automatically. Substantial barriers have first to be overcome, ranging from economic and technological to institutional barriers, and actions must be taken as soon as possible. The HyWays project brings together industry, research institutes and government agencies from ten European countries.

Following a series of more than 50 workshops the project has produced a Roadmap to analyse the potential impacts on the EU economy, society and environment of the large-scale introduction of hydrogen in the short- and long- term, as well as an action plan detailing what needs to be done for this to take place. The report is published as the Member States are due to give their approval of a new ?940m public/private research partnership for the development of hydrogen and fuel cells.

The HyWays project has created a roadmap based on country-specific analysis of the situation in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, together with an action plan detailing the steps necessary to move towards greater use of hydrogen.

The study examined the different ways in which hydrogen can be produced and found differing attitudes across the EU. All countries represented chose the production of hydrogen from natural gas, biomass and wind energy. Nuclear energy was seen as an option in France, Finland, Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom, whereas the use of coal was excluded in Finland, France and Norway. The report showed that the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels using carbon capture and storage could make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the introduction of hydrogen into the energy system offers the opportunity to increase the ratio of renewable energy, and help the large-scale introduction of intermittent resources such as wind energy through its use as a temporary energy storage option.

By: www.energetica21.com

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