March 1, 2005

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Linde’s proposed “European Hydrogen Highway” superimposed on a map of Germany. “CEP” refers to the existing Clean Energy Partnership H2 fueling station in Berlin. “Argemuc” is Munich’s fueling station collaborative. “DC” stands for DaimlerChrysler.

BERLIN - A leading European industrial gas technology company proposes the rapid, near-term construction of some 40 hydrogen fueling stations along existing freeways to establish an 1,800 km (1,100 mile) hydrogen ring in Germany.

And looking further ahead, Linde AG took the wraps off a new hydrogen infrastructure investment analysis for both Germany and Europe for the next two decades. Bottom line: total costs would be lower than previously assumed, and building a hydrogen infrastructure for Europe is doable and affordable.

Linde presented the “European Hydrogen Highway” for Germany at its “International Hydrogen Day” conference Feb. 24 in Berlin, attended by executives and policymakers from Europe, the United States, and Japan. The company says the investment needed for these fueling stations, spaced roughly 50 km (31 miles) apart along an “Autobahn” ring linking Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne, would be less than Euro 30 million ($39 million).

A “European” Hydrogen Highway

Assuming driving ranges of about 450 km (280 miles) for current-generation hydrogen vehicles, this would permit a hydrogen vehicle to travel full circle around Germany. Additionally, it would permit urban test operations in a 70 km (43 mile) radius around these stations in high-density population areas such as Berlin, the industrial Ruhr area, Munich, the Rhine-Main area, Stuttgart and others, says Linde.

Linde calls it a “European” hydrogen highway to emphasize the idea that it could help jumpstart similar structures throughout Europe. "Everywhere in the world hydrogen is already being tested as an energy carrier," Linde’s management board chairman, Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle told the meeting.

"This ‘Autobahn’ ring would provide a leg up to the German automobile industry, enabling it to quickly and efficiently gain experience with hydrogen vehicles," Reitzle added.

For the study Linde commissioned David Hart, of Imperial College London and director of the consulting firm E4tech. Hart’s principal finding: for Europe as a whole, the total cost would be about Euro 3.5 billion ($4.6 billion) through 2020 to fuel about 6.1 million hydrogen vehicles - much less than other earlier estimates. Germany’s share in those two decades would be about Euro 870 million ($1.1 billion ) to cover the hydrogen fuel needs of 1.9 million cars, according to this analysis. (See sidebar, Linde Study).

Europe’s Cost Equal to 6-Month Microsoft R&D

“Launching the hydrogen economy is doable - no ifs and buts,” said Reitzle. Euro 3.5 billion “is just about equal to what Microsoft spends on research in six months,” he declared. The proposed German ring route runs close to the development centers and manufacturing locations of German carmakers, he added. It would enable manufacturers to test their propulsion concepts under realistic conditions, and the real costs of a hydrogen infrastructure would become clear.

Additionally, construction of the H2 ring would offer a chance to create new jobs - a major concern in the stagnating German economy - and it would reposition and secure Germany’s role in the international economic scene by assuming a global lead role in a key technology, according to Reitzle.

Such a H2 infrastructure would provide a sufficient, reliable base for discussing as yet unresolved economic and ecological questions about hydrogen, Reitzle believes. Technology has advanced to the point that there is no need for another 50 years of theoretical debate of it virtues or problems:

Linde’s Reitzle: “We’ve Got to Do It Now”

“We’ve got to give hydrogen the chance to prove its worth - and we’ve got to do it now,” said Reitzle.

Data gathered with the system would be transparent and openly accessible via an Internet portal. All interested parties from all over the world would be able to access real-time data about actual consumption, tank behavior and a host of other details.

Driving home the point to German and international officials at the conference that hydrogen infrastructure efforts are going on in several parts of the world, Linde pointed to California’s “Hydrogen Highways Network” and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s endorsement as an example of top-level political support. In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is working together with Japan’s car manufacturers on a hydrogen infrastructure.

According to Linde, some 500 hydrogen-powered vehicles exist today, many of them built by German manufacturers, and a few have already been made available to customers.

In its 10-point summary, Linde calls on Germany’s political establishment, carmakers and oil companies to provide high-priority support to secure Germany’s competitive position in future energy technologies. It also urges renewed and increased r&d efforts to produce hydrogen from regenerative sources.

Linde, a 41,000 employee, $12 billion industrial gas, engineering and materials handling company, says it is ready to provide the technical equipment and the fuel for the project, and to lead the development and standardization of new hydrogen storage technologies.

The conference, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was expected to be attended by, among others, Germany’s economics and labor minister Wolfgang Clement; the head of the Energy and Transport Directorate General of the European Commission, Franz-Xaver Soeldner; the deputy director of Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources & Energy at METI, Jiro Nagao; and Robert Dixon of the U. S. Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

Contact: Linde, (media) Stefan Metz, 0049/611/770-487; e-mail stefan.metz@linde.deo.