The European Union Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) has allocated $679 million USD for research and development aimed at escalating the timeframe for rollout of new technology.
The JTI is a public – private partnership and part of the Seventh Framework Program that focuses on research, development and demonstration of new technologies. As I had talked about last month, the EU Parliament has now paved the way for standardized production, dispensing and marketing of hydrogen vehicles and technology among member countries.
JTI’s goal is to put money into various areas of hydrogen research, such as production, distribution, fueling stations, vehicles, and stationary fuel cells in order to ready the commercial rollout by 2020. The Initiative is made up of over 60 private companies and includes many non-profits as well.
One other area that the JTI will focus on is early markets for hydrogen fuel cell deployment which will likely be geared towards portable generators, large stationary fuel cells for homes and businesses and small portable devices to replace standard batteries in laptops, cameras, cell phones and other electronic devices.
Realistically, hydrogen transportation will take longer to rollout because of the necessary fueling stations that need to be built in each country. But, by “putting their money where their mouth is” the Europeans are making a bold move that the rest of world’s superpowers would do well to emulate.