Author: moatti

The EHA will be present at the 16th Group Exhibit Hydrogen + Fuel Cells at the HANNOVER MESSE from 19-23 April 2010.  Joined by the German, Spanish, Italian, Norsk and Belgian EHA national member associations the EHA will present its latest strategy paper “Energy Infrastructure 21″ and the national and regional developments. The Region of Lombardy is presenting oen of the 20 Fiat Panda’s that are currently part of the Region’s fleet, running on hydrogen (30%V) and  natural gas. In addition the EHA will feature a slide show of 1o years “Hydrogen in Europe”, commemorating the EHA’s first decade of hydrogen promotion in Europe.

Around 150 companies and institutions from around the globe will showcase a full spectrum of hydrogen/fuel cell-related products & services at this longest running H2/FC exhibition in Europe. The latest developments in stationary, portable & mobile fuel cells, fuel cell applications, components, test systems, hydrogen production, transport, storage & infrastructure, reformers and beyond will be shown.

More information on the Conference and the registration here

Climate change Commissioner-designate, Connie Hedegaard, said she sees herself as a horizontal coordinator, with the task of mainstreaming climate action into all EU policies, during her three-hour hearing in the European Parliament on Friday (15 January).”It is not going to be easy to reconstruct [the climate directorate-general],” Hedegaard admitted. “Climate can be almost anything,” she said, giving examples of overlaps between areas as diverse as industry, development and research on top of the obvious links between environment and energy.

But the Dane said it would not be possible to put everything under one DG. “Therefore you must do it the other way around by mainstreaming,” she said. Hedegaard pledged to work closely with other commissioners, saying legislative initiatives would often be triggered in conjunction with them. But she admitted that it would be “a bit of a fight” to push other commissioners with their own priorities to make room for a climate dimension in their portfolios. “Climate, energy security and job creation must be the EU’s vision,” she stressed.

Regarding the progress which could be made on the climate change agenda, Ms Hedegaard noted that the EU already had energy efficiency and emission reduction targets and said “the challenge for the next five years is to implement them“. However, the EU could nonetheless do more to reduce emissions from road transport, adding that she would table an integrated legislative package on climate and transport during her mandate. The legislative package, akin to that on energy and climate change agreed in 2008, would include initiatives to rein in growing emissions from transport, Hedegaard said. She spoke of the “huge challenge” facing the sector as continued growth in carbon emissions from transport is currently offseting efforts made in other areas. One of the new climate commissioner’s first initiatives will be to introduce legislation on cutting CO2 emissions from lorries. She said she would also seek to revise EU legislation on CO2 emissions from cars, which she said is outdated considering the speed at which technology is moving.  In general, the future climate commissioner supported pricing CO2 emissions in the transport sector. In her opinion, “internalising externalities,” which has been a guiding principle of the EU’s emissions trading scheme, would also work for transport.

In response to Kartika Liotard (GUE/NGL) Ms Hedegaard’s declared that “in my universe, nuclear (energy) is not a renewable resource“, but acknowledged that “the policy for a long time in the EU has been that the energy mix will be up to the countries themselves“. She had “no doubt” that nuclear energy “will also be in the world for many years“, and said that the highest priority must therefore be given to safety.

Asked by Satu Hassi (Greens/EFA), whether she would be tough “towards the most polluting form of power production – coal power“, Ms Hedegaard pointed out that coal power plants are already part of the ETS. As regards setting CO2 emission performance standards for power stations, “we should wait and see whether the CCS technology actually works“, she said.

She also expressed her disappointment on the fact that the COP15 had not delivered binding targets during her three-hour hearing in the European Parliament on Friday (15 January), but stressed that “a lot has changed in the last few years” and that the EU “had played a tremendously important role in paving the way for change“. She underlined that despite the lack of a binding agreement, COP 15 had delivered commitments on funding and an agreement to keep temperature rises below 2° C, to which both developed countries and emerging economies subscribed. “It is a bit tough to blame those who worked most to achieve a turnaround for the global climate, for those who in the end chose not to deliver,” she said in reply to critical questions from Chris Davies (ALDE, UK). She also stressed that the EU should continue to push other countries to set more ambitious targets. Asked by Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, NL) about plans to step up the EU emission reduction target from 20% to 30% (by 2020, from 1990 levels), she said that this should be done as soon as possible, but in a way that would encourage other countries to go further, too.

Spain’s Prime Minister Zapatero unveiled the priorities for their Presidency of the Counci lbefore the European Parliament on Wednesday, 20 January. The Spanish leader, whose country currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, said the 27-member union should take measures to promote electric car production in Europe.

“The other day I met together with a group of companies, some of the most important in Europe, and it was felt it was fundamental that there should be co-operation and integration of efforts in developing the electric vehicle,” he told MEPs.

“If our markets don’t have a regulatory framework to provide financial support, and if we don’t have common standards on the technologies, then it will be difficult for Europe to take a leading role,” he added. However, he didn’t precise if the plan will cover only battery cars or if it will also applies to hybrid, fuel cells and biofuel.
EU industry ministers are set to launch the plan at a meeting on the 8 February in the Spanish seaside town of San Sebastian.
Greater energy self-sufficiency will also be key to sustainable European growth, said the Spanish leader whose country was one of the worst hit by the recent recession.

“In the last ten years … our energy consumption has gone up by nine percent,” he told euro deputies. “We need to reduce our dependence. If we don’t reduce it we won’t be able to have any economic growth.”  Together with the Spanish Hydrogen Association, AEH2,

The FAC Conference on Control Methodologies & Technology for Energy-Efficiency will take place on March 29- 31, 2010 in Vilamoura, Portuga.

Portuguese Hydrogen Association, AP2H2 in collaboration with municipality of Torres Vedras and EDEN association will organize 3º Seminário Internacional sobre a Economia do Hidrogénio (3^rd International Seminar on Hydrogen Economy) on 11 and 12 March 2010.

Information on program and registration here

The aim of this event is to provide a forum for industry and academia to interact and explore potential business opportunities, and to learn about the latest innovations within hydrogen technologies including hydrogen generation, materials science for storage and building future low carbon infrastructures.

More information here

The main subject of the conference  is the science and technology of hydrogen and energy including hydrogen production, storage, fuel cells, combustion and theoretical modelling.

Fore more information and registration click here

French researchers have presented a study that enable to produce and use hydrogen by replacing platinum by a synthetic enzyme. This method should open a new era for the profitability of fuel cells by enabling the production of hydrogen from nickel, iron or cobalt, less expensive and rare than platinum.

Thus, scientists from Laboratoire de chimie et de biologie des métaux (LCBM) from Grenoble and from Institut du rayonnement de la matière de Saclay (IRAMIS) got inspired from hydrogenases, which are natural enzymes present notably in bacteria and using or producing hydrogen from nickel or iron. They originate from an era during which there was no oxygen on earth but carbon monoxide or hydrogen, and, as they are destructed by oxygen, are present in specific environments where hydrogen is profuse.

“Nature got along to produce hydrogen without platinum, that has inspired us” said Marc Fontecave from LCBM. This biomimetics approach came from the observation that some cyanobacteria can transform water to hydrogen thanks to solar energy. Thus, there are some hydrogenases realizing catalysis appealing to iron or nickel atoms.  Researchers have put these “imitations” on carbon nanotubes which allows transplanting a lot of catalysts by unit areas on the electrode.

These promising results still have to be improved either by increasing the quantity of the catalyst on the electrode or by enhancing its chemistry as its speed is 10 to 100 times weaker than with plate and as there’s no real substitute to plate. “We have 10 or 20 working years in front of us” considered Vincent Artero, researcher in LCBM and coauthor of the study.

Michael Hamburger (Appalachian State University) et Thomas Moore (Arizona State University) have positively reacted to this announcement considering that “future optimizations of this compound could lead to viable catalyst, without noble metal, for fuel cell”.

The National Hydrogen Association (NHA) will hold the 21st annual NHA Hydrogen Conference & Expo, the world largest hydrogen conference in the U.S. and the longest running annual hydrogen energy conference, in Long Beach, CA, from May 3 – 6, 2010 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

The event focuses on breakthroughs, progress on commercialization and networking among the brightest minds and business leaders in the industry. The exhibition will feature about 100 exhibitors showcasing the latest developments in fuel cells, hydrogen energy technology, and applications such as fuel cell powered vehicles, refueling infrastructure and many other hydrogen using or generating technologies.

There will be an educational forum for end users on hydrogen energy and fuel cell applications. The Forum is titled, “Hydrogen and Fuel Cell (HFC) Basics: Solutions to Power Your Business.” The Forum will be held on Monday, May 3 and is intended to provide information about the benefits and cost savings of using hydrogen energy and fuel cell solutions in applications related to: Materials Handling, Back-up Power, Cell Phone and Other Communication Towers, Power (Small Fuel Cells) for Military and Personal Applications

Major session topics at this year’s Conference include: Using & Storing Hydrogen from Renewables, International Programs, Education & Outreach, Safety Codes and Standards, Storage: Chemical & Metal Hydrides, Infrastructure Analysis, Production: Electrolysis R&D Results, Military Applications, Fuel Cell R&D Results, Storage: General, Delivery and Refueling, Infrastructure Design, Production: Biomass, Transportation, Investing in Hydrogen Technology.

To register click here

The Dunkerque 2010 conference will explore how local sustainability can represent an answer to the current economic, social and climate challenges and how it can be further implemented at the European level under the actual financial and political frameworks. It will also offer a unique opportunity to assess and push forward the progress and achievements of European local governments in the field of sustainable development.

After the conferences of Aalborg 1994, Lisbon 1996, Hanover 2000, Aalborg 2004 andSevilla 2007, more than 1000 local government leaders from all over Europe as well as representatives from European and national networks of local governments, European institutions and NGOs are expected to take part in the largest European conference dedicated to local sustainable development.

More information about the programme and the registration here

The 18th World Hydrogen Energy Conference 2010 will take place from 16 to 21 May 2010 in Essen under the auspices of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) and will be organised by the EnergyAgency.NRW, supported by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The objective of the 18th WHEC2010 is to provide a comprehensive platform for scientific information exchange and to promote hydrogen as a clean energy carrier as well as fuel cells as clean energy converters. The conference attempts to proclaim new technologies, foster strategic discussions and help develop pathways to introduce hydrogen technology into the energy economy.

Decision makers in politics, industry, research, and finance will be addressed in dedicated strategic sessions of the first conference day. Besides, contributions from international experts will focus on the role and path of hydrogen in the energy economy.

More Information about the Conference and the Registration here

At the occasion of the COP 15, Siemens presented the European Green City Index, a study on the environmental sustainability of 30 major cities in 30 European countries in which it emerges that Copenhagen is the “greenest” major city in Europe, followed by Stockholm, Oslo, Vienna, and Amsterdam.

The evaluation of the 30 cities’ achievements and objectives in the area of environmental and climate protection focuses on eight categories: CO2 emissions; energy; buildings; transportation; water; air quality; waste and land use; and environmental governance.

The eight categories are based on 30 individual indicators — 16 of which are quantitative (e.g. consumption of water and energy per capita, recycling rate, and use of public transportation) and 14 qualitative (e.g. CO₂ reduction targets, efficiency standards for buildings, and support for environmental protection measures). “As far as possible, the research is based on data from official sources, such as municipal statistics departments and city governments,” said Watson. The study also includes in-depth city portraits that reveal the strengths and weaknesses of each urban center, while also highlighting initiatives and projects from which other cities can learn. “A key element of the study is the comparability of the results from each city — within both the individual categories and in the overall evaluation,” added Watson.

“Our analysis indicates that European cities are leaders in environmental performance. In particular, almost all of the 30 cities — which are home to a total of nearly 75 million inhabitants — average lower per capita CO₂ emissions than EU countries,” said James Watson, managing editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit and the editor of the study. The best city in this category, Oslo, emits only 2.5 tons of CO₂ per capita and per year, far less than the EU average of 8.5 tons. What’s more, almost all of the cities have already developed and partially implemented an environmental strategy. “All of the cities face formidable challenges, however. For example, renewable sources of energy currently account for only around seven percent of these cities’ energy supply, which is significantly under the target of 20 percent set by the EU for 2020,” said Watson. Furthermore, the average share of waste that is recycled is less than 20 percent, while one in four liters of water is wasted through leakage.

Scandinavian cities generally achieve high scores. Awareness of environmental protection in these cities has been strong for years, which is reflected in the cities’ ambitious climate targets. Copenhagen, for example, aims to be carbon free by 2025. In Scandinavian countries, GDP per capita income is above average, and these wealthy countries have invested substantially in environmental protection. So far, Eastern European cities generally rank lower. This is largely due to a comparatively low gross domestic product and historic burdens, including the lack of attention paid to environmental protection in previous decades. In particular, high energy consumption in buildings and outdated infrastructures reflect this. In the area of public transportation, however, Eastern European cities often score above average: Kiev, which is ranked 30th overall, is estimated to have the highest percentage of people using public transportation to commute.

The European Green City Index is the third Siemens study to date in the Sustainable Urban Infrastructures series — after sustainability reports on London and Munich. “With this analysis we are once again underscoring our commitment to helping cities with their climate protection measures,” said Achatz. “After all, they play a key role, given that they are responsible for 80 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions and that more than half of the world’s population lives in cities today.” Siemens’ environmental portfolio makes it an ideal partner for the implementation of climate-friendly infrastructure solutions. In fiscal 2009, the company generated about €23 billion in revenue with the products and solutions of its environmental portfolio. That is approximately 30 percent of its total annual revenue.

The level of innovation in regions varies considerably across almost all EU countries. This is one of the main findings of the 2009 Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), published on 14 December 2009 by the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC), one of the seven institutes of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) together with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry and the Maastricht University (MERIT).

This 2009 RIS provides a comparative assessment of innovation performance across the 201 regions of the European Union and Norway in order to inform policy priorities and to monitor trends. With respect to the previous report published in 2006, which used a very limited set of regional indicators, this report offers richer information to regional innovation policy-makers of more comprehensive and detailed, regional Community Innovation Survey (CIS) indicators. Despite this progress, the data available at regional level remains considerably less than at national level, and in particular four Member States – Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands – were not able to provide regional CIS data. Due to these limitations, the 2009 RIS does not provide an absolute ranking of individual regions, but ranks groups of regions at broadly similar levels of performance.

The report also shows that there is considerable diversity in regional innovation performances. Thus all countries have regions at different levels of performance. This emphasizes the need for policies to reflect regional contexts and for better data to assess regional innovation performances. The most heterogeneous countries are Spain, Italy and Czech Republic where innovation performance varies from low to medium-high.

It is stressed that the most innovative regions are typically in the most innovative countries. Nearly all the “high innovators” regions are in the group of “Innovation Leaders” identified in the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). Similarly all of the “low innovators” regions are located in countries that have below average performance in the EIS. However, the results also show regions that outperform their country level. Regional performance appears relatively stable since 2004. The pattern of innovation is quite stable between year 2004 and 2006, with only a few changes in group membership. More specifically, most of the changes are positive and relate to Cataluña, Comunidad Valenciana, Illes Balears, and Ceuta (Spain), Bassin Parisien, Est and Sud-Ouest (France), Unterfranken (Germany), Közép-Dunántúl (Hungary), Algarve (Portugal), and Hedmark og Oppland (Norway). Longer time series data would be needed to analyse the dynamics of regional innovation performance and how this might relate to other factors such as changes in GDP, industrial structure and public policies.

Download the 2009 Regional Innovation Scoreboard report

The first hydrogen pumping station in the Czech Republic was launched into operation in Neratovice, central Bohemia, on November 5, after three years of preparations by the Nuclear Research Institute (ÚJV) in co-operation with Linde Gas. It has taken almost three years and three million Euro dollars to complete the station. Three quarters of the costs have been by state and EU subsidies. The station will use gaseous hydrogen pressures of 300 bars and a typical filling of a bus will takes about ten minutes. The project has an annual capacity of 72 thousand meters cubic (about six tons) of hydrogen.

“It’s not just one hydrogen station in the Czech Republic but throughout Central and Eastern Europe,” said Chief Marketing Officer of Linde Pavel Jirsa.

The prototype hydrogen bus in the Czech Republic is called the TriHyBus  which was developed by Škoda Plzeň Electric. The bus will be a hybrid and have three complementary power sources – fuel cells, capacitors and batteries.

A fuel cell power boat was launched on 9 December to circling in the Amsterdam canals. The Nemo H2 which can transport up to 87 people, is a unique boat specially designed to run on a fuel cell engine, where hydrogen and oxygen combine to generate electricity and water, without creating carbon monoxide.

Tourists can now take a ‘CO2 Zero Canal Cruise’, for an additional 50 cents, which will fund additional research into carbon-cutting knowledge, added Freek Vermeulen, managing executive of Lovers Boat Company.

“That’s important in a city like Amsterdam with over 125 canal trips per day,” said Alexander Overdiep project manager.

If the innovative boat was twice as expensive to construct than a regular diesel canal boat, and has to break at a hydrogen dispensing station for a refill daily, while regular boats require a small amount of gas once a week, however, developers of the plan, which the Dutch government partly paid for, said expenses would decrease as more boats were built and tested, and if an additional hydrogen division infrastructure materialized.

The Commission approved on 9 December, 15 energy projects which will significantly contribute to the economic recovery of the EU, while increasing security of energy supply and substantially reduce CO2 emissions. With this decision, the Commission grants €1 billion to six Carbon Capture and Storage projects and €565 million to nine offshore wind energy projects.

Energy Commissioner Piebalgs said: “With this decision the Commission has laid the foundation for the development of two key sustainable technologies that will be essential in our fight against climate change. This unique decision by the Commission does not only give a push to the economy and employment, but also it supports innovative energy technologies that may create further jobs and growth in the future.”

These award winning innovative energy technology projects will contribute in reaching the binding targets of greenhouse gas emission reduction and renewables by 2020 and beyond.

The decision on these 15 projects is the first step towards the use of almost €4 billion set aside by the EU in May 2009 for energy projects to support economic recovery. The landmark agreement on the European Energy Programme for Recovery in May foresaw Union financial assistance to energy projects in the fields of CCS, offshore wind energy and gas and electricity infrastructure. The procedures for the infrastructure projects are still ongoing. The decision is expected to be taken in February 2010.

The funded projects are described in the MEMO/09/542 , MEMO/09/543

Newly revised with a new chapter on trends in fuel and energy, this book will address many of the factors affecting our energy use, including the availability and desirability of various fuels-especially the use of hydrogen. Topics include energy policy, fuel supply trends, statistics and projections, oil reserves, alternative scenarios, energy utilization, sustainable energy, cost analysis, fuel escalation, energy and development, regulatory issues, barriers to implementation, conversion systems, storage systems, thermodynamic efficiency, fuel chain efficiency, life-cycle efficiency, technology issues extracting, refining, air emission issues, safety, natural gas hydrogen gas, methanol, ethanol, steam reforming and fuel cells.

In the light of ever-increasing global energy use, rising costs of energy services, concerns over energy supply security, climate change and local air pollution, the book, put together by Shell Hydrogen’s Michael Ball and Martin Wietschel of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe, Germany, published by Cambridge University Press, centres around the question of how growing energy demand for transport can be met in the long term.

Responding to sustained interest in and controversial discussion of the prospects of hydrogen, this book highlights the opportunities and the challenges of introducing hydrogen as alternative fuel in the transport sector from an economic, technical and environmental point of view, and with a global geographic scope. Through its multi-disciplinary approach the book provides a broad range of researchers, decision makers and policy makers with a solid and wide-ranging knowledge base concerning the hydrogen economy.

Particular highlights include:  assessment of the benefits and downsides of hydrogen compared to other alternative fuels, strategies and scenarios for a hydrogen infrastructure build-up,  interactions between hydrogen production and the electricity sector, long-term global hydrogen supply scenarios and their impact on resource availability, the potential of hydrogen for decarbonising the transport sector,  macro-economic impacts of introducing hydrogen, assesses the virtues and downsides of hydrogen compared to alternative fuels in the transport sector, enabling readers to have an informed opinion on this controversial issue, discusses long-term global hydrogen supply scenarios and contribution to CO2 emissions reduction, increasing awareness of the consequences of the hydrogen economy, comprehensive literature review and overview provides a road-map for more detailed reading

More about the Hydrogen Economy book on Cambridge University Press website

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, has announced, on 27 November 2009, the portfolios responsibilities for the next Commission. They will take office in January, after the audition of each member by the European Parliament, from 11 to 19 January 2010.

Changes in the Portfolio

The new College will have 7 Vice-Presidents, including Vice-President Baroness Catherine Ashton who will be the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December.

New portfolios have been created: Climate Action; Home Affairs; Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, in addition of the new reconfiguration of other ones: Industry and Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth; Health and Consumer Policy; International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. In particular, the state aid competencies currently in DG TREN will move to DG Competition (COMP), whereas Climate Directorate ENV C moves to the new DG for Climate Action (except the Clean Air Unit C.3).

Who are the new Commisioners

For DG Transport, former Estonian Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud Siim Kallas (ELDR) succeeded to Antonio Tajani (Italy, EPP), who will be in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship.

Günther H. Oettinger (Germany, EPP), replaces Andris Piebalgs (who moves to Development) at Energy directorate while Janez Potočnik moves from Science and Research to Environment, in place of Stavros Dimas. Oettinger is former First Minister for Baden-Württemberg.  He has an academic background in law and economics and has held a series of political roles since the early eighties. In 1991, he became president of the CDU group in the State Parliament. In response to his appointment, Oettinger rejected claims that he would campaign for nuclear power, but would rather advocate an “energy mix that would enable the EU to be as self-sufficient as possible”.

For his part, Potočnik will focus on issues such as environmental protection, preserving biodiversity and furthering environmentally-friendly industry which he believes will also be an important contribution in the fight against climate change. In response to fears that his portfolio could be overshadowed by that of the Climate Change Commissioner, Potočnik stressed that it will enable all environment-related issues to receive the attention they deserve.

Johannes Hahn (Austria, EPP) takes the  succession of Pawel Samecki who made an interim at Regional Development, after the election of Danuta Hübner at the European Parliament. The former Austrian Minister for Science and Research highlighted the importance of pursuing a cohesive policy with a particular emphasis on regional research activities aimed at enhancing Europe’s regions.

The head of the new Directorate General for Climate Change, is attributed to Danish Minister of Energy and Climate, Connie Hedegaard, who will, first, lead the negotiations at the COP15.

The commissioners chosen by José Manuel Barroso are the following:

Joaquín ALMUNIA (Spain): Competition. Vice-President of the Commission

László ANDOR (Hungary): Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Baroness Catherine ASHTON (UK): High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security and Vice-President of the Commission

Michel BARNIER (France):  Internal Market and Services

Dacian CIOLOŞ (Romania): Agriculture and Rural Development

John DALLI (Malta): Health and Consumer Policy

Maria DAMANAKI (Greece): Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Karel De GUCHT (Belgium): Trade

Štefan FÜLE (Czech Rep.): Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy

Máire GEOGHEGAN QUINN (Ireland): Research and Innovation

Johannes HAHN (Austria): Regional Policy

Connie HEDEGAARD (Denmark): Climate Action

Rumiana JELEVA (Bulgaria): International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response

Siim KALLAS (Estonia): Transport. Vice-President of the Commission

Neelie KROES (Netherlands): Digital Agenda. Vice-President of the Commission

Janusz LEWANDOWSKI (Poland): Budget and Financial Programming

Cecilia MALMSTRÖM (Sweden): Home Affairs

Günther H. OETTINGER (Germany): Energy

Andris PIEBALGS (Latvia): Development

Janez POTOČNIK (Slovenia): Environment

Viviane REDING (Luxembourg): Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Vice-President of the Commission

Olli REHN (Finland): Economic and Monetary Affairs

Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ (Slovakia): Vice-President of the Commission for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration

Algirdas ŠEMETA (Lithuania): Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud

Antonio TAJANI (Italy): Industry and Entrepreneurship. Vice-President of the Commission

Androulla VASSILIOU (Cyprus): Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth

Air Liquide has announced that the second of two hydrogen fuelling station as part of the Canadian Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Project will be Vancouver International Airport, after Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport, announced previously. The project was leading by Air Liquide Canada in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada, the governments of British Columbia and Quebec, and 14 participating companies.

Vancouver International Airport will deploy several hydrogen transportation technologies in shuttle buses, as well as passenger and utility vehicles 20 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses expected to be provided by the Vancouver Airport Authority and Air Canada and completely commissioned in time for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“We are extremely pleased to contribute to British Columbia’s Hydrogen Highway initiative by showcasing our hydrogen technologies at Vancouver International Airport”, said President and CEO of Air Liquide Canada, Luc Doyon. “As we near the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, this exciting demonstration program will be observed by millions of travellers coming to Vancouver for the Games and beyond. Air Liquide is privileged to have a front row seat with British Columbia to show the world how innovative fuel cell technologies and hydrogen energy can power important sectors of the Canadian economy while protecting our environment. ”

More information here