Meer aandacht voor hernieuwbare energie - Focus niet op waterstof

• 2003-09-10

Vandaag stelde de Europese Commissie haar plannen voor inzake waterstof en de ontwikkeling van brandstofcellen. De Europese groenen wegen de plannen.

Europe should prioritise renewable energy - Hydrogen focus is misguided

Europe should direct its efforts towards developing renewable energy instead of creating a 'hydrogen economy' which is dependent on nuclear and fossil fuel, according to Green/EFA energy spokesperson Claude Turmes.
Speaking today after the European Commission published its policy towards hydrogen and fuel cell development, Turmes criticised the input of pro-nuclear Commissioners Busquin and de Palacio and the role of the 'high level hydrogen working group,' which includes lobbyists from the nuclear and fossil fuel industry.

Claude Turmes MEP (Déi Gréng - Lux) said: "The hydrogen economy is not an end in itself. It should only be considered as part of a safe, secure and renewable-based energy future. If hydrogen comes from fossil fuel or nuclear sources then it is completely incompatible with a sustainable energy policy."

"Today's communication from the Commission is heavily influenced by the high level hydrogen working group. Yet it is in this body's interests to promote hydrogen at all costs since it doing this will also promote fossil and nuclear fuels."

"We need to boost technological development - especially in renewable fuel cells where Europe is severely lagging behind US and Japan. We are too dependent on components from these countries. We can not allow public funds to being diverted away from developing the renewable energy economy and improving energy efficiency and spent instead on promoting a hydrogen economy built on unsustainable foundations."

"That is exactly what is happening in the United States. In January 2003, President Bush expressed his support for hydrogen energy in his State of the Union address. But the resulting funds are being almost exclusively spent on subsidising research and development involving fossil fuels and nuclear power. There is almost no emphasis on developing systems of hydrogen extraction from renewable sources of energy."

"Without large-scale renewable energy production, concrete financial commitments and a serious demand-side energy policy, Europe runs the risk of discrediting hydrogen, preventing its own development and further damaging the environment through the ongoing use of fossil fuels and nuclear derived hydrogen. The Commission must therefore promote renewable energy first, and hydrogen - deriving from renewable sources - second. Not the other way around!"