*EPF113 06/16/2003
Text: Energy's Abraham Announces Conference on Hydrogen Economy
(Abraham addresses European Commission meeting in Brussels) (1940)

U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has invited the European Union and its member countries to participate in a ministerial-level conference later this year to discuss ways that will advance the transition to a global hydrogen economy.

In remarks delivered June 16 to the European Commission's Conference of the High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technologies in Brussels, Abraham said the upcoming international meeting would formally establish an International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy.

By working together, Abraham said, the United States and its international partners can leverage scarce resources and advance the schedule for research, development and deployment of hydrogen production, storage, transport and end-use technologies. "I am convinced the partnership will speed the day when consumers everywhere can purchase a competitively priced hydrogen powered car," he said.

Over the next five years, Abraham said, the Department of Energy will invest $1,700 million on research and development of hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure technologies. Noting that hydrogen can be produced using renewable, fossil and nuclear energy, he also said that the United States is looking at all of these options. "But we intend that all our hydrogen will eventually be produced using emissions-free technologies," he said.

After the conference, Abraham and European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin signed a fuel cell annex laying the framework for U.S.-EU collaboration on technologies aiming to produce a reliable, cost-effective hydrogen fuel cell as an energy source for transport and electricity.

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

(begin text)

Remarks prepared for Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham European Union Conference on Hydrogen
Brussels, Belgium
June 16, 2003

Thank you, Chairman Colombani. I commend President Prodi and the European Commission for convening this important conference. Your commitment to overcoming the challenges to a hydrogen energy future is an encouraging sign that we can, and will, transform this world from one overly dependent on fossil fuels, to one powered in large part by clean and abundant hydrogen.

It is a pleasure to be with you here today and to represent the United States at this EC conference. Meeting our respective energy needs, while protecting the environment and minimizing dependency on imports, is a challenge that each country at this conference confronts. Our ultimate success will depend, for the most part, on our ability to devise 21st century technologies to overcome these challenges. In America, we have embarked on a multi-faceted, aggressive set of initiatives to accomplish these goals.

In addition to its obvious energy mission, the United States Department of Energy is also the owner of some of the world's foremost research laboratories. On any given day our scientists may be working on an artificial retina that can restore sight to the blind, discovering ways to create hydrogen from microbes, or building new materials that can repair themselves if damaged. So when it came time for the President to charge a federal agency with developing the technological solutions to the nation's energy and environmental challenges, the Department of Energy received the call. And of that, I am very proud.

The employees of the Department of Energy take this challenge seriously. We have made significant progress promoting conservation and increased energy efficiency, and expanding the use of clean, renewable energy sources. This year our $1.3 billion funding request for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs exceeds funding levels enacted by Congress during any of the last 20 years. We have also committed nearly $2 billion to our ten-year Clean Coal Power Initiative, to develop and test technologies that improve power plant generation efficiencies and reduce emissions.

In addition, we recognize that the challenges posed by carbon-based fuels must receive unique and special attention. That's why we have increased our budget for carbon sequestration research by 60 percent. And we recently announced FutureGen, a $1 billion public-private initiative to design, build, and operate the world's first coal-fired, emissions-free plant that produces both electricity and hydrogen. The goal of FutureGen is to ensure that fossil fuels can become an increasingly clean source of energy, not just for the United States, but all nations, particularly developing nations.

While these initiatives are all very important, what is the most exciting and perhaps the most promising initiative is the one we are here to discuss today - hydrogen. Like many of the nations represented here, the United States has made hydrogen research and development a top priority. We do this for a variety of reasons: to reduce the health impacts of pollution, to increase energy security, as well as to address the long-term potential challenge of climate change. Because of hydrogen's promise for addressing climate change, the US and EU identified it last February as an area for cooperation under our climate change bilateral dialogue. The US and EU also worked together closely to place cooperation on the hydrogen economy at the center of the G-8 Action Plan on Science and Technology, which our Leaders adopted earlier this month in Evian.

Early last year we introduced our FreedomCAR program, which is intended to develop automotive systems that would use hydrogen as fuel. This past January, President Bush announced his Hydrogen Fuel Initiative to concurrently develop the fuel production and distribution infrastructure necessary for the mass deployment of hydrogen-powered vehicles. With these two project lines on track, we believe that the first car of a child born this year could be hydrogen powered and pollution free. We are optimistic about the prospects for hydrogen, not just as the transportation fuel of the future, but also for its potential to generate electricity to heat and power our homes and businesses. We are so confident and committed that over the next five years the Department of Energy will invest $1.7 billion in research and development of hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure technologies.

As you know, hydrogen can be produced using renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy. We are looking at all of these options. But we intend that all our hydrogen will eventually be produced using emissions-free technologies. In our most recent budget, we propose spending roughly 50 percent on hydrogen production from renewable resources. And I can think of few investments that offer as great a payoff for our collective energy, economic, and environmental security.

Notwithstanding our own commitment to this program, we know from firsthand experience the value of international partnerships to advance scientific knowledge and technology in the energy arena. The Gen IV nuclear reactor project is a perfect example. This program is an international collaboration focused on the research and development of the next generation of safe and proliferation-resistant nuclear technology. I believe that every nation involved in Gen IV recognizes the benefits of working together, leveraging resources, and creating a common roadmap to the development of this technology.

Another example is next week's inaugural meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum. This international forum is being organized to bring together the world's largest consumers and producers of fossil fuels, and to focus attention on the development of carbon sequestration technologies as a means of reducing greenhouse gases around the globe. I am pleased that my good friend and colleague, Madame de Palacio, will be attending the Forum. We look forward to working with her and other world leaders to ensure the success of this effort.

The success of these and other cooperative efforts have convinced me that similar international partnerships can significantly speed the advancement of our hydrogen agenda. To that end, last March I traveled here to Brussels to meet with President Prodi, Vice President de Palacio, and Commissioner Busquin to discuss our mutual interest in pursuing a hydrogen economy. Those talks were very productive and encouraging. Indeed, later this morning, Commissioner Busquin and I will sign a Fuel Cell Annex to the US-EU Non-Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement. This Annex will help unify our approaches to hydrogen research and highlight the importance of international cooperation in the development of hydrogen energy technologies.

We believe our work on hydrogen and the work being done elsewhere around the world is perhaps the most significant game-changing endeavor the energy sector will see in our lifetimes. And working together with international partners, we can leverage scarce resources and advance the schedule for research, development, and deployment of hydrogen production, storage, transport, and end-use technologies.

Moreover, as I have discussed with President Prodi and others, I believe that international collaboration can help us develop the uniform codes and standards necessary for the development of hydrogen vehicles and the infrastructure to support them. The technical challenges before us are in themselves substantial. We cannot allow uncertainty over codes and standards to add complexity to or discourage our progress. Businesses and industries that are conducting hydrogen research will have a greater incentive to invest and succeed if they know that the products they develop will have worldwide application, and the sooner we establish these uniform standards, the sooner we can achieve our hydrogen revolution.

Clearly, the US-EU fuel cell joint effort is an important element in advancing the hydrogen revolution. However, I see it as just the beginning of an international approach to achieving our collective hydrogen vision. That's why, a few weeks ago at the International Energy Agency conference in Paris, I proposed the concept of an international hydrogen partnership to formalize cooperative efforts to advance the research, development, and deployment of hydrogen fuel cell and infrastructure technologies. This U.S. proposal drew a favorable response from a number of attending ministers, some of whom are here today. Given that response, I'd like to suggest that we take this proposal to the next level.

Today, I'd like to ask the EC as an organization and the countries represented here individually, to join with me in a ministerial-level conference this fall to formally define and establish the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy. Such a Partnership would, in my view, provide the best mechanism to efficiently organize, evaluate, and coordinate multinational research and development programs that advance the transition to a global hydrogen economy. Our Department is prepared to host this session. And we are prepared to move quickly to make such a conference a reality.

We have great challenges ahead of us. We know that this task will be difficult and that it will require a substantial devotion of financial resources. But the promise of hydrogen is too great to forego investing in its potential. So we go forward, in search of an inexhaustible supply of clean energy available to all the nations of the world. We are investing billions of dollars and euros, in the hope of simplifying an international energy market marked, at times, by volatility and uncertainty. We signify our commitment to making the planet healthier and cleaner. And we prepare to undertake a revolutionary transformation that will affect every quarter of society in every one of our countries.

The question before us is this: will we move forward, each of us, alone, in a manner that likely leads to duplication and the inefficient use of resources? Or will we band together to significantly increase our chance of realizing the full potential of hydrogen? Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for the opportunity to meet with you this week. More than that, I want to thank you for the interest you have displayed in bringing about the hydrogen economy. We look forward to working with you to achieve that goal. Thank you.

(end text)

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

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