New hydrogen filling stations, new regions and a new international automobile partner in Toyota.
Wayne Gerdes -
CleanMPG - Mar. 13, 2010
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Under the CEP banner, strong partners are jointly developing the fuel of the future. With Toyota joining the partnership, the construction of new filling stations, and the establishment of additional hydrogen centers, the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) is resolutely advancing on its path to creating sustainable mobility. The CEP sends out an important signal and with the assistance of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS) is investing in a sustainable energy supply as well as the development of Germany as a business location.
The year 2010 started dynamically for the Clean Energy Partnership: with Toyota coming on board, the CEP has gained another strong partner from the automotive industry, further raising its international profile. Rainer Bomba, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS), said: "Germany aims to be the lead market for electric mobility. What has happened here today shows that we are on the right track. The future of transport lies in the electrification of the propulsion systems. No single technology will be enough to solve this challenge on its own. Therefore, we are pursuing a non-technology-specific approach with our programs and are promoting both battery and hydrogen and fuel cell technology. The industry, together with the German Federal Ministry of Transport, has earmarked around EUR 2 billion for this."
The new partner will help ensure that innovations from Germany go on to become global technical standards. Toyota and the CEP partners seek to build a sustainable society with the help of hydrogen technology, and to pave the way into an era of zero-emissions mobility. Toyota will contribute five FCHV-adv fuel-cell hybrid vehicles to the partnership by 2011, so there will then be a total of 40 emission-free cars from six car manufacturers on the road in Berlin and Hamburg.
Tadashi Arashima, President & CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, said: " We firmly believe that fuel cell hybrid vehicles, or FCHVs, will play a major role in reducing emissions and in achieving sustainable mobility, alongside petrol Hybrids, Plug-in Hybrids and pure electric vehicle. These various applications of full hybrid technology will each play their role and co-exist in the future. Toyota aims at the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles around 2015. To achieve this goal, needless to say, a hydrogen charging infrastructure is necessary. So, a close tie-up between car manufacturers and infrastructure companies are of vital importance. "
In Germany during the "Year of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells", the World Hydrogen Energy Conference (WHEC) in Essen, May 16-21, 2010 and the "Energy in Transition" information campaign will focus attention on the vast potential of hydrogen as a source of renewable energy. With the construction of the first CO2-free filling station by CEP’s partner TOTAL at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport and the opening of a hydrogen filling station on Holzmarktstrasse by the partners Linde, Statoil and TOTAL in the spring, the CEP is actively supporting the continuous expansion of the hydrogen Infrastructure with the help of the BMVBS. Other filling stations in Berlin, Hamburg and along the A24 autobahn are in planning. The integration of renewable energy plays a major role in this. The declared objective of the Clean Energy Partnership is to increase the proportion of hydrogen produced using renewable energy to 50%. It is currently in talks with the German states of Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia in order to set up and integrate additional hydrogen centers, and thereby guarantee re-fuelling opportunities nationwide.
Dr. Klaus Bonhoff, Chairman of the Management Board of NOW GmbH (National Organization for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology), declared: "The CEP is a success story of the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Program. The international interest it is receiving and Toyota’s becoming a partner confirm that the private sector around the world is banking on hydrogen with fuel cells as an efficient and sustainable technology. We need these new technologies to introduce renewable energies to the transport sector, and use them there efficiently. Otherwise we will not reach the global climate targets."
The aim of the Clean Energy Partnership - an alliance of 13 leading companies - is to establish hydrogen as the “fuel of the future.” Among the organizations involved in this trailblazing project are major technology, oil and energy players, as well as the majority of German car manufacturers and two leading public transport companies. Members include Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM/Opel, Hamburger Hochbahn, Linde, Shell, StatoilHydro, TOTAL, Toyota, Vattenfall Europe and Volkswagen.
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