1.3        Geographical assessment

The total world hydrogen production is 45.0 millions of metric tons annually. The major sources are natural gas and coal, accounting for 78 % of the total production, 48 and 30% respectively.

 

Source: Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH 1994

While hydrogen is a natural fuel for fuel cell vehicles, a hydrogen fuel infrastructure does not yet exist. The total number of hydrogen or methanol stations is still below one hundred all around the world. Difficulties arise from introducing a new vehicle technology and a new fuel infrastructure all at the same time. Using hydrogen to replace conventional fuels requires numerous changes in existing infrastructures for storage, distribution and utilization. To overcome these problems it is more likely that fuel cell cars will – at least in the first stage - be powered by gasoline or diesel processed into a hydrogen-rich gas.

Although the technology is still an emerging one with a number of technical and infrastructure barriers, the first fuel cell vehicles became available in Japan and the US late in 2002. Also the targets to be achieved by 2010 have been set with 50 000 cars and 2.1 GW of stationary and residential fuel cell power. It is interesting to note that while the transport sector may need to look to a long way forward before a practical system could be implemented, the electric production of hydrogen is likely to be employed to serve niche applications in the shorter and mid-term market.

 

Currently Japan and the US are the lead researchers in the field, but Canada and the European Union are also substantially increasing their R & D spending in fuel cell technology. Other major contributors include Korea and Australia, as well as some smaller technology-led countries like Singapore.

Over the past decade, the EU, which is also increasingly active in fuel cell vehicle demonstration projects, has provided substantial R & D support to the automotive industry and the development of fuel cell technology through its framework programs. According to a study by the US Department of Commerce - unlike the United States and Japan, which are heavily focused on passenger vehicle demonstration, - the EU has chosen to stress mass transit applications in which it could be competitive earlier than in passenger vehicle.

 
Altogether the member states used approximately 60 million € public funding on fuel cell R & D in 2002. The largest sum was spent by France, which is followed by Germany and the Netherlands.