Secretary Abraham, European Commission President Prodi Agree to Fuel Cell Annex; Will Enable DOE to Conduct Research with EU Groups

3/6/2003

From: Jeanne Lopatto, 202-586-4940, or Drew Malcomb, 202-586-5806, both of the U.S. Department of Energy

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 6 -- U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and European Commission President Romano Prodi today welcomed progress on a Fuel Cell Annex to the U.S.-EU Non-Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement and agreed to its signing and implementation in the near future.

"This Annex is a key step to moving our joint agenda forward to expand the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source," Abraham said. "The increased use of hydrogen is critical to coordinating our mutual cooperation in the fields of clean energy, fuel cell research, and developing hydrogen as an alternative fuel. President Bush has highlighted the importance of hydrogen as an alternative fuel in his Hydrogen Future Initiative and the National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, so our cooperative venture with the EU will help tremendously in advancing our mutual goals."

The Fuel Cell annex, originally developed in 1997, will be the first addition to the Agreement for Science and Technology Cooperation between the European Commission (EC) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and provides for the legal and contractual framework for the two to begin to begin collaborative research with the various research institutions of the EC. The Agreement was signed by Secretary Abraham and EC Commissioner for Research Phillipe Busquin in May 2001.

The DOE and the EU have placed a high priority on their respective hydrogen initiatives and have stressed the importance of their mutual interest and cooperation in the area. In 2002, the EC established a High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (HLG), composed of EC auto and transport companies, utilities, research institutes and policy makers. The HLG immediately began developing a hydrogen strategy that will help reduce EC energy import dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and achieve a goal of replacing 20 percent of automotive fuel with alternative fuels by 2020. Their "foresight report" is expected to be completed by mid-2003, and will include a research agenda, and deployment and commercialization actions.

The Fuel Cell annex will help the DOE and EC unify their approaches to hydrogen research and highlight the importance of bilateral cooperation in the development of hydrogen as an energy source.

Since the U.S. and EC face common challenges, including growing energy and oil import dependence and massive new energy infrastructure requirements, the importance of alternative fuels is of primary significance to both entities.

In demonstrating his commitment to hydrogen research, President Bush will ask Congress for $1.2 billion to fund a new national commitment to develop hydrogen fuel cell cars. By developing hydrogen to its full potential, the U.S. could reduce its oil demand by 11 million barrels per day by 2040.