Secretary Abraham Announces Agreement with Brazil on Hydrogen Energy Research; Supports President Bush's Hydrogen Initiative, International Partnerships

4/19/2004

From: Tom Welch of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-5806

BRASILIA, BRAZIL, April 19 -- U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Rousseff today announced a collaborative effort to advance hydrogen sector research, development and deployment activities, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

"We look forward to working closely with our Brazilian partners as we leverage our efforts to pursue the promise of hydrogen energy," Secretary Abraham said. "I have every confidence that, through such collaboration, we will indeed transform this world from one overly dependent on fossil fuels to one powered in large part by clean and abundant hydrogen."

The effort is to be launched by establishing a joint team of U.S. and Brazilian officials and experts to develop a hydrogen energy technology roadmap for Brazil. This roadmap is to consider possible pathways for future hydrogen production, storage, transfer, end-use technologies, safety codes and standards, and outreach/communication efforts.

The U.S. and Brazil are two of the founding members of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE). On November 20, 2003, Secretary Abraham and representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Commission, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Russia and the United Kingdom signed an agreement formally establishing the IPHE as an international mechanism to coordinate hydrogen research and technology development.

The signing marked a significant advancement in countries from around the globe working together for a safe and environmentally benign hydrogen economy. The IPHE will allow participating countries to leverage limited resources, bring together the world's best intellectual skills and talents to solve difficult problems, and develop interoperable technology standards.

Hydrogen fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen in an electro- chemical reaction that produces electricity, water and heat. The electrical current produced can be used to power anything from portable computers to entire buildings. It is also believed that fuel cell technology will offer a clean replacement for the internal combustion engine.

President Bush has committed the U.S. to invest $1.7 billion for the first five years of a long-term research and development program for hydrogen, hydrogen infrastructure, fuel cells, and hybrid vehicle technologies. President Bush's vision is that children born today will have the opportunity to purchase as their first car a hydrogen powered, pollution free vehicle.