*EPF118 04/28/2003
Text: U.S. Urges Other Countries to Join Hydrogen Project
(Effort aimed at reducing dependency on foreign oil, Energy's Abraham says) (830)

U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has called on other nations to work with the United States on hydrogen fuel, which would help reduce the world economy's reliance on oil.

On April 28 Abraham told the International Energy Agency (IEA) ministerial meeting in Paris that he will propose at that forum an international hydrogen partnership aimed at transforming countries' transportation sectors from "ones dependant on foreign petroleum to ones that use domestically produced hydrogen" as the principal fuel.

Abraham said that by working together and leveraging scarce resources countries can accelerate introduction of a "competitively-priced hydrogen powered car."

For the transition to a hydrogen economy to work globally, he said, both IEA member countries and major developing countries such as India, China, South Africa and Brazil, which are not IEA members, must be involved.

Energy ministers from the forum's 26 member countries are scheduled to discuss on April 28-29 different aspects of near-term and long-term energy security, including emergency oil stocks, the natural gas market, obstacles to investment, new technologies and roles of governments in liberalized markets.

Following is the text of Abraham's remarks as prepared for delivery:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of Energy

Remarks prepared for Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
Media Availability at the International Energy Agency Ministerial Meeting Paris, France
Monday, April 28, 2003

Good afternoon, and welcome. I am very excited to be here for this important Ministerial. Over the next few days we are going to explore a number of topics relating to shared energy challenges, and will investigate areas to work together on shared solutions.

That's why tonight I intend to offer a bold proposal relating to what President Bush believes to be the single most important thing we can do to address energy security: that is, transforming our economies from ones dependent on foreign petroleum to ones that use domestically produced hydrogen as the principle feedstock for powering our transportation sectors. This is an exciting opportunity for the nations of the IEA to work together and with other nations of the world.

At this evening's IEA Ministerial Working Dinner, I will propose an International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy.

In his State of the Union address three months ago, the President committed the U.S. to an accelerated timetable to research and develop hydrogen powered cars and the infrastructure to support them.

Other nations have begun similar programs. Building on our strong bilateral and multilateral relationships, I suggest that we combine efforts and work together on a unified front, sharing ideas and coordinating activities, all in the interests of pursuing the common goal of a hydrogen economy.

But cooperation must go beyond IEA nations. Developing countries face the same energy and pollution challenges we do.

For the transition to a hydrogen economy to work globally, we must involve the major developing countries, such as India, China, South Africa, and Brazil.

The Partnership I envision would develop common codes and standards for hydrogen fuel utilization.

It would establish cooperative efforts to advance the research, development, and deployment of:

-- hydrogen production
-- storage
-- transport
-- end-use technologies

It would strengthen exchanges of pre-competitive information necessary to build the kind of common hydrogen infrastructures necessary to allow this transformation to take place.

And it would formalize joint cooperation on hydrogen R&D to enable the sharing of information necessary to develop a hydrogen-fueling infrastructure.

By working together and leveraging scarce resources, we can speed the day when consumers everywhere can purchase a competitively-priced hydrogen powered car.

In the early stages of our hydrogen work, we have identified 14 key research, development, deployment, and infrastructure activities that will advance us toward our goal.

These are initial steps.

We look forward to working with those nations who might be interested in collaborating on these and other areas.

My proposal reaches beyond those countries that already have large programs to all the nations that have work in these areas.

And we must construct this conversation in a way that looks at opportunities down the road in developing countries who share a common opportunity and need to develop their own infrastructure to take advantage of this future.

Every one of our nations should and will benefit when the hydrogen age arrives.

The proposal I will make tonight offers a new framework, an umbrella under which we can all work together, and under which we can aggressively collaborate on these issues.

It recognizes that the world is moving toward the hydrogen economy.

And each of our nations has compelling reasons of national, economic, and energy security to do whatever is necessary to accelerate this revolutionary transformation.

Now is the time to make this commitment.

Working closely together, we can bring about the transformation to a hydrogen economy as smoothly, as efficiently, and as quickly as possible.

Now, I'll be happy to answer any questions.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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