The world's leading fuel cell organizations announced that they have entered into a cooperative agreement designed to advance commercialization of fuel cells worldwide. The agreement covers activities in such areas as technical cooperation, information exchange, advocacy, harmonized product specifications and safety standards.
The US Fuel Cell Council (Washington, DC), the Fuel Cell Commercialization Conference of Japan (Tokyo, Japan), Fuel Cells Canada (Vancouver, Canada), and the World Fuel Cell Council/Fuel Cell Europe (Frankfurt, Germany) collectively represent more than 300 businesses, research institutions and others interested in fuel cells and hydrogen.
The memorandum of understanding calls for cooperation and collaboration on significant aspects of commercialization. The organizations will meet annually to assess progress and refine their activities.
The parties agreed to promote policies that will lead to universal access to markets for all fuel cell products and help minimize trade barriers to global fuel cell commercialization; work with governments and Standards Development Organizations to achieve harmonized codes, standards and regulations at all appropriate levels; advance the understanding of fuel cells and related technologies and fuels among policy makers, technical audiences and the general public; encourage worldwide adoption of common test protocols, measurement guidelines and practices designed to promote compatibilities; and share educational materials and other information and collaborate on communications messages in a spirit of openness and collaboration.
