The European Commission has adopted regulation to set up the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (JTI), a public-private joint technology initiative with sights on making the technologies commercially available between 2010 and 2020.

The Commission is expected to fund €470 million of the project from the Seventh Framework Programme for six years and anticipates matched contributions from the industry.

This news comes closely following the U.S. Department of Energy making $130 million available for the development and use of fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable power applications (see U.S. DOE to put $130M into advanced fuel cells).

According to an EU-funded project, scenario analysis indicates that hydrogen, if introduced with suitable policy measures, could reduce the total oil consumption by the road transport sector by 40 per cent between now and 2050. In addition, the findings also indicated that by 2050, CO₂ savings from road transport of up to 50 per cent compared to peak levels are possible.

Comparing overall spending for hydrogen production, supply and vehicles with the savings to be gained from replacing conventional fuel and conventional vehicles over time, the JTI project anticipates the break-even point to be most likely reached between 2025 and 2035.

In a statement, the EC acknowledged that the European industry will need additional stimulation to invest in the technology of hydrogen and fuel cells.

While capital commitments from the U.S. and the EU have are likely to take some of the heat off the argument that a lack of financial support has been a major deterrent for hydrogen and fuel cell technology development, other challenges remain (see Hydrogen cars non-starters).

At last year's Hydrogen & Fuel Cell conference in Canada, the industry lamented the handful of bariers to its success and noted the lack of infrastructure, high production costs, regulation uncertainty and the reliance on fossil fuels for production, just to name a few (see see Hydrogen economy bubbling along).

While critics of this technology remain, the interest and investment from the U.S. and the EU are likely to spur a wave a research and development over the next several years.