The transformation to a global sustainable energy economy will be the greatest feat of technological and socio-economic engineering ever undertaken.

It will require unprecedented levels of international collaboration; forward planning and investment well beyond the horizons of normal commercial enterprise; and sustained, focussed research and technology development (RTD) effort to advance the capabilities of today?’s technologies to the point where they are compatible with commercialisation in a future free market.

The European commission?’s Framework program plays a significant part in enabling the start of this transformation. Roads2HyCom, along with the linked project HyLights, is supporting the Commission with information to assist with future planning.

Hydrogen is what is known as an ?“energy vector?”. It is not a ?“primary?” source of energy like coal, oil, gas, wind, solar or nuclear energy, but, like electricity, it can be made from these sources and used as a way of carrying energy to the point where it is needed.

A key attraction of Hydrogen as an energy vector, is that it can be produced from a variety of sources, including: Conventional fossil fuels (fossil fuels are made largely of Carbon and Hydrogen; the Carbon can be removed and ?“sequestered?” underground as a way of preventing it ending up as the greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide) Renewable energy sources like wind, tidal and solar; bio-mass sources Nuclear power Hydrogen can be burned in heating devices and combustion-engines, or used to power a Fuel Cell.It burns to produce pure water, so hydrogen-fuelled devices usually have very low levels of harmful emissions (small amounts of ?“NOx?” gases can be produced in combustion devices but it is usually possible to minimise this).

Today, Hydrogen is used extensively in industrial processes including oil refining, fertiliser production and food processing. There is very little infrastructure to make or distribute it as a fuel. Creating such an infrastructure cost-effectively is a key challenge, as is the technology required to store it in vehicle fuel tanks. If Hydrogen is to become successful as an energy vector in our sustainable energy economy, these issues must be overcome via research.

A Fuel Cell is a device that converts Hydrogen (the fuel) and Oxygen (from the air) directly into electricity, with high efficiency and very clean exhaust emissions. A fuel cell can be used as a power source for anything from a laptop computer to a car, bus, house or factory. Its high efficiency and compatibility with Hydrogen as a fuel make it attractive as a future power unit. Some types of fuel cell can use other fuels apart from Hydrogen, either directly or using a ?“reformer?” which separates the Hydrogen from the source fuel.

Natural Gas, LPG, Methanol, Ethanol, Gasoline and Diesel have all been used as fuel cell fuels, and because they are widely available, the first commercial fuel cells will use these fuels. In many cases, these fuel types can be substituted with sustainable alternatives such as bio-gas, bio-ethanol and bio-diesel in the future. Fuel cells using these ?“hydrocarbon?” fuels will emit the greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide, but for the bio-fuels it is re-captured by the growing process.

Fuel cells are not in widespread use today. Their cost is high relative to alternatives, and research is still needed to make them more robust and durable. If Fuel Cells are to become successful as a power producer in our sustainable energy economy, these issues must be overcome via research.

A ?“Demonstration?” is a project that brings together systems and products related to Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technology, together with their stakeholders, in a realistic operating environment for the purpose of demonstrating the technology and evaluating its usage.

Demonstration projects serve to provide useful information to all their stakeholders: Industry - techno-economic learning associated with the system or product being demonstrated, and further development of its reliability in service Regions, municipalities and local operators including any private or public user - gaining first experience with the new technology, building confidence in its safety and user-acceptance Political stakeholders at regional, federal or EU level - gaining better understanding of real life challenges and opportunities imposed by technological and economic issues, public acceptance, safety related issues, education and training; and furthermore to learn about the possible contribution of a new technology to fulfil the relevant policy goals.

In practice such Demonstrations could be, for example, a fuel-cell bus fleet using Hydrogen created by renewable energy, or a power generation device using fossil Hydrogen from which the Carbon has been sequestered. Demonstrations usually exist within a broader environment where the majority of energy needs are supplied conventionally.

A ?“Lighthouse Project?” (LHP) is effectively an extended scale Demonstration where the new technologies can be assessed under pseudo-commercial conditions, in which key stakeholders such as public agencies, users, and technology and infrastructure providers participate. A Lighthouse Project is intended to be a high profile example, a prominent technology showcase that can be replicated in whole or part in other situations as a building block for Hydrogen Communities.

Lighthouse Projects can stimulate technology providers to speed up development, and encourage public agencies and users to examine how use of hydrogen and fuel cells could be introduced and built up in their areas. The projects?’ objective would be to build technical experience and market acceptance simultaneously, to the point where wider commercialisation could begin, with minimum costs of transition.

A specific advantage of LHPs for policymakers and industry is the economic efficiency of supporting the technology in only few locations in the first demonstration phase, thus reducing infrastructure and other operational and maintenance costs. This will help to increase the impact and visibility, and therefore lead to the highest efficiency in utilising limited funds for technology demonstration.

A ?“Hydrogen Community?” is a group of bodies or legal entities, who are stakeholders in or potential operators of, or carriers for, hydrogen infrastructure, supporting hydrogen applications of varying nature (this also includes infrastructure and applications relating to hydrogen-rich fuels), and who together create a constitute cluster of hydrogen and fuel cell activities that support each other.

In practice such Communities could be Regions, Cities, Remote locations (such as islands), Self-contained entities (Airports, Seaports, Industrial complexes, etc), or Distributed entities (Hydrogen highways, etc). In a Hydrogen Community, Hydrogen plays a significant role in the community as an energy vector.

A Hydrogen Community may evolve out of, or in parallel to, large Demonstration or Lighthouse Project(s). Possible cluster activities within the Community can include fundamental or applied research and demonstration projects that feed new technology into the Community.

The European Commission encourages stakeholders in its Framework programs to form Technology Platforms, as a means of bringing together those stakeholders in a cooperative environment, collating viewpoints and working with the Commission to further its objectives.

In the field of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, this activity is performed by the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform (HFP). The main goal of the HFP is to facilitate and accelerate the development and deployment of cost-competitive, world class European hydrogen and fuel cell based energy systems and component technologies for applications in transport, stationary and portable power.

The platform is steered by a high level Advisory Council. The establishment of the HFP has been facilitated by the European Commission. Further information may be found at www.hfpeurope.org