Objective

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is encouraging federal agencies to become early adopter of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The DOE Hydrogen Program’s market transformation activities are focused on eliminating non-technical barriers and increasing opportunities for widespread use of these technologies.

Methods

Several directives are stimulating the adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across the federal government. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes federal agencies to procure fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen energy systems, and portable or stationary fuel cells. Executive Order 13423, signed by President Bush in January 2007, directs Federal agencies to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3% annually through 2015, relative to 2003 baselines. This order also directs agencies to meet these goals through the use of renewable energy sources and the implementation of renewable energy generation projects.

Results

Promising near-term markets are forklifts, and backup power for telecommunications and emergency response. Adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across the Federal and state governments in these areas will act to stimulate the much larger industry markets. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has 15,000 radio tower sites across the US that require backup power. Success in this application could ultimately lead to penetration into the much larger telecommunications industry with 250,000 telecommunication towers.

Conclusions

Deployment of fuel cells into early markets helps reduce fuel cell manufacturing costs. Early markets can pave the way for less expensive hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, allowing these to be more broadly deployed in government uses.