The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Platform (HFP), a European project to promote hydrogen fuel cells that is sponsored by the European Commission, is presenting proposals for the medium- and long-term development of the technology. The European Commission, set up September 2002, brings together industry, research institutes and public authorities.
The HFP claims that using hydrogen as a fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve local air quality and provide a more secure energy supply. The group sees transport as a major application for fuel cells. The HFP is working on both a strategic research agenda proposing a 10-year research, development and demonstration program, and a deployment strategy that describes the first steps and key milestones for the market penetration of portable, stationary and transport applications by 2020.
Research goals include reducing fuel cell system costs by a factor of 10 to 100, doubling the performance and durability of fuel cells, and cutting delivered hydrogen costs by a factor of three.
