Roads2HyCom is a European Project, funded under the Framework Six Programme, that is assessing and monitoring research in the field of hydrogen and fuel cells. The project focuses on three main areas – technology, infrastructure and communities.
This presentation will deliver results on who is doing what in Europe in relation to hydrogen and fuel cell technology, which is one of the main outputs from the Roads2HyCom technology mapping exercise.
In May 2006 Roads2HyCom launched an on-line questionnaire aimed at organisations active in H2&FC related research and technology development. Over 350 organisations completed the questionnaire, making it one of the largest European surveys assessing H2&FC research. Entrants ranged from universities and research centres to small independent companies through to large corporations from across Europe.
Although the survey included options on hydrogen production methods, storage and transportation, a high percentage of organisations that took part in the survey claimed to be involved in developing an application technology (87%). Interestingly stationary applications proved as popular as transportation.
Of the organisations that completed the financial resource questions, 79% spend annually less than €1 million on H2&FC RTD. National R&D grants are the most popular source of funding, although the grant contribution is usually lower for independent and corporate companies, compared to universities. Only 46% of the entrants received R&D funding from the European Commission.
The preliminary results from the survey can be downloaded from www.roads2hy.com. This paper will include results from this Roads2HyCom mapping exercise that have not been previously published.