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Secretary
of Energy Abraham Calls for “International Partnership for the Hydrogen
Economy”
“International cooperation is key to achieving hydrogen and fuel cell
program goals such as those President Bush stated in his recent State of the
Union address,” Secretary Abraham said. “Partnerships that leverage scarce
resources, develop technology standards, and foster private-public technology
and infrastructure collaboration can more easily overcome the technological and
institutional barriers that inhibit the development of a cost-competitive,
standardized, widely accessible and safe hydrogen economy.” An International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy will establish
cooperative and collaborative efforts in hydrogen production, storage,
transport, and end-use technologies; common codes and standards for hydrogen
fuel utilization; and the sharing of information necessary to develop hydrogen
fueling infrastructure. “The vision of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy is
that a participating country’s consumers will have the practical option of
purchasing a competitively priced hydrogen power vehicle, and be able to refuel
it near their homes and places of work, by 2020,” Secretary Abraham added. A growing number of countries have committed to accelerate the development of
hydrogen energy technologies in order to improve their energy, economic, and
environmental security. For example, the Most of IEA’s Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
countries face undesirable levels of risk to the reliability of their energy
sectors and environmental quality resulting from on over reliance on imported
petroleum, unstable energy prices, aging electricity and natural gas
infrastructures, and the air and water pollution issues associated with the
extraction and use of traditional fuels. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions
are a growing concern. The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier offers several important advantages
relative to existing systems. Hydrogen can be derived from multiple feedstocks,
which fosters fuel versatility. End-use technologies that employ hydrogen, such
as fuel cells and combustion engines, are more efficient and can be used safely
while improving the environment and public health. Fuel cell vehicles may one
day serve as sources of reliable, distributed electricity generation when not
being used for transportation. Fact
Sheet (PDF) Secretary's Remarks ·
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Availability at the IEA Ministerial Meeting ·
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Release No. PR-03-089 |