Press Release: Hydrogen buses, clean power stations and greener laptops: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative launches a €140 million call for proposals for cutting-edge research

With the publication of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative (JTI)'s second call for proposals for research on 2 July, 2009, Europe was well placed to realise the potential of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies and to create a cleaner energy system for the future. Around €140 million were allocated to this second call, with €71.3 million by the Commission matched by in-kind contributions of the industrial partners. The 29 project topics aim to put fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies on the market two to five years sooner than had been estimated without the support it offers. Selected teams of researchers will investigate bottlenecks in the whole range of applications for these energy technologies, from cars to large scale power plants, as well as the whole supply chain from hydrogen production to demonstration of the market-readiness of applications. Breakthrough research should foster the use of hydrogen-fuelled buses and fuel cell vehicles. It will help develop hydrogen storage and improve fuel cells' durability, performance and the cost-efficiency to make green applications such as power stations or laptops ready for the market. This call was the second being launched by this EU-wide collaborative private-public partnership whose total budget amounts around €1bn to be invested by 2014.