This paper aims to support the acceleration of the hydrogen (h2) economy. Therefore the innovative technology of fuel cells (fc) for residential use has been combined with a novel marketing theory. Based on different assumptions due to the two-sided markets theory three scenarios will be presented.
The h2 economy has been defined as an economy where the h2 is delivered to the customer and then is converted into electricity and heat by residential fc systems. For this purpose the main constituent parts of the h2 network have been elucidated. In the paper the special features of fc and h2 production will be discussed whereby the h2 economy is based on three important groups. In addition to the fuel cells’ manufacturer and the hydrogen producer the customer of fuel cells and hydrogen are also important.
In two-sided markets there are content producers (e.g. fc manufacturer and h2 producer) on one side of the market and end consumers on the other side of the market. Additionally a third participant exists. This ‘platform-intermediary’ (e.g. an electric utility) links both sides of the market by producing tools to connect the market. Diffusion processes have been modeled with the software package MATLAB.
Using the positive effects of two-sided markets will accelerate the h2 economy. Therefore the fc manufacturer and h2 producer should work together and build regional clusters. This diffusion process of the fc should be moderated by a broker in order to reduce transaction costs.