Along with industry, the German government is promoting applied research into vehicle engines that use hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
The recently founded National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) is to push forward with the development of internationally competitive products and preparations for marketing these. Together the government and industry will be providing one billion euros over the next ten years to develop technology to replace the petrol engine.
The initiative stems from an understanding enshrined in the coalition agreement of the governing parties and the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Programme.
Filling up a BMW Hydrogen 7 with liquid hydrogenPhoto: Photothek Enlargement Hydrogen - the fuel of the futureExperts have long agreed that there is no future for fossil fuels. As Federal Minister of Transport Wolfgang Tiefensee says, "In the field of energy supply we must place our faith in innovative, forward-looking solutions. This applies quite particularly to the fuel-intensive transport sector and to the use of energy in buildings. In the long term this technology will enable us to reduce CO2 emissions and, at the same time, will make us less dependent on oil.”
Showing what is already possible
The aim is then clear – research and development work should generate marketable products to supply energy. Impressive pilot projects are already testing existing hydrogen and fuel cell technology, to determine whether it is fit to be used on an everyday basis. "In this way we are not only investing in our environment,” underlined Wolfgang Tiefensee, "We are also creating jobs for the future in Germany.”
NOW is to coordinate all research and development activities in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, with a special emphasis on the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Programme. The programme brings together numerous individual projects undertaken by the academic community and by industry to make one overall programme. It is a public-private partnership with a ten-year term. It is funded by industry, the academic community and the Federal Ministries of Transport, Economics, the Environment and Finance.
The new enterprise NOW-GmbH, founded to implement the programme, is also the central contact point for German and international businesses working in the branch.
