March 2007

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BERLIN - Germany, up through the 1980s a world leader in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies but then dropping behind, is now catching up again, the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV) says.

In the first of a new series of annual press conferences summarizing for German media what’s been happening in the preceding year, DWV executives last month said Germany clearly is once more in the forefront. DWV chairman Johannes Toepler, a DaimlerChrysler research executive, said the growing public interest in hydrogen and fuel cell technology is a result of increased concern over global climate issues and increasing public awareness of the problems of energy security.

As the recent report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) shows, “permanent damage to our climate can be slowed down only if the conversion to regenerative energy is achieved within a few years,” Toepler said.

DWV secretary and board member Ulrich Schmidtchen praised recent German government initiatives, such as offering matching Euro 500 million over ten years for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, plus steadily increasing European Union contributions. But he also noted that the total of Euro 300 million in the EU’s five-year-framework program is the same amount that the United States and Japan allocate in one year. “That’s definitely too little if we want to be competitive,” said Schmidtchen.

Deputy chairman Joachim Wolf, executive director for hydrogen solutions for industrial gas producer Linde, noted the primary issue for industry is less current profitability than long-term survival in the global business world. Example: while consumers will probably have to wait for commercial fuel cell cars until early in the next decade, step-by-step construction of a network of hydrogen fueling stations is under way now to guarantee future fuel availability, said Wolf.

In its press kit, DWV said a total of 139 hydrogen fueling stations have been built worldwide so far: 43 in Europe, 36 in Asia - including 21 in Japan, half of these in the Tokyo metro area - and 60 in North America, 48 of them in the United States and about half of those in California. Another 98 are being planned: 24 in Europe, 20 in Asia, 2 in Latin America and 52 in North America.

Contact DWV: Dr. Schmidtchen, +49-700 49376 835; h2@dwv-info.de.