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• Bioenergy

Energy

This book examines how developing countries can factor in competing arguments about the impending arrival of practical hydrogen fuel cell technology as they explore options for future policies.

Since the mid-1990s, the emergence of a hydrogen economy and the speed of its arrival have been vigorously debated. The debate has mainly been among policymakers and industrial or energy firms in the developed nations. Their policies, along with the technological competencies and competitive practices of related industries, have played a central role in shaping both the debate and the direction of technological change.

For developing countries, the current debate highlights the uncertainties involved in making choices about hydrogen and fuel cells in transportation planning. Whether a hydrogen-based transportation system becomes viable sooner (by 2020) or later (2050 or beyond) is a key issue in their attempts to plan national energy, environment, and transportation policies.

Some of the other key issues highlighted in the book include:

• the debate, from a multiplicity of perspectives, over how soon hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles might become commercially available and whether this will require a considerable amount of new investment in basic research and development
  
• alternative energy sources and their consequences for economic, social and environmental sustainability  - it stresses the need to consider the availability of domestic resources in making choices among alternatives, and to take a long-term learning perspective in choosing technological paths for the short term
  
• the need for strategies and roadmaps with respect to hydrogen fuel cells and alternatives, as few countries especially in the ‘developing’ world have developed an explicit strategy for hydrogen and fuel cells.

There are still many significant problems to solve before hydrogen becomes a practical fuel source. Dominant designs for the production, storage, and distribution of hydrogen have not been established, and the performance of today’s hydrogen fuel cells is not competitive with that of the combustion engine. However, costs are coming down, and the efficiency and durability of hydrogen fuel cells are improving.

Some of the main recommendations noted include:

• there is a need to better understand the hydrogen technology and its relationship to alternatives
  
• research, increased knowledge flows and strengthened domestic capacity in science and public policy will be essential in evaluating choices about the development and application of hydrogen fuel cells in the developing world
  
• there is a need for not only information about the technology itself, but about the multiplicity of pathways, policies and programmes being implemented elsewhere and the varied contexts in which these are achieving their goals. This will be critical for the ability of developing countries to participate fully in the future development of a hydrogen economy.

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