Introduction
This newsletter is the fruit of the collaboration between H2IT and SPACE Research Center of Bocconi University with the objective of following the evolutions within the industry of hydrogen and fuel cells and analyze these new technologies under an economic and managerial perspective. Bocconi University collaborates with the Italian Association for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (H2IT), for which it carries out a research activity and monitoring of markets and public policies. In particular:
1. Mapping of the enterprises which operate within the hydrogen and fuel cells sectors: economic data, technological focus, principal agreements;
2. Mapping of the main pilot projects realized at national and international level;
3. Mapping of public policies pertaining to the dissemination of hydrogen and fuel cells at national and international level;
4. Mapping of the financing instruments for hydrogen and fuel cells technologies adopted nationally and at European level.
In this second newsletter, H2IT decided to give an overview of the regulations directly and indirectly concerning hydrogen and fuel cells.
At European level the Commission asks for an increase of €5 bn of the public and private funding for the period 2013-2020 in order develop a larger number of large-scale demonstration projects, and enhance pre-commercial deployment activities for portable, stationary and transport applications, as well as long-term research and development activities. In the meantime, the European Council and Parliament has approved a regulation for the omologation of hydrogen fuelled vehicles which will enter in force in the Member States on February 24th 2011 and a Directive that obliges contracting authorities and certain operators to take into account lifetime energy and environmental impacts when purchasing road transport vehicles.
In Italy the interest of policy-makers towards hydrogen energy seems to be weakening as is inferred from the progressive reduction of the funds allocated by the Financial Laws between 2008 and 2010. Incentives for hydrogen vehicles seem to be destined to vanish by the end of 2009, while the fundings for research and development assigned by the succesful initiative “Industria 2015″ are delayed. Similarly, at regional level mobility planning tends to prefer electric cars rather than hydrogen fuelled ones, although Energy and Environmental Plans keep considering hydrogen of high importance for what concerns its use as energy storage for renewable energy plants and its use in mixture with methane as a transitional step towards the use of pure hydrogen.
