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Hydrogen applications

Hydrogen is often called the energy source of the future, which gives the impression that hydrogen applications are still at an experimental phase. That is not the case. People have been working with hydrogen for decades without any problems. It is an important raw material for the chemical and petrochemical industries, for example. The hydrogen for these industries is produced in hydrogen plants in the Botlek and transported to the refineries by pipeline. It is also used in numerous products, and space shuttles are launched using it.

Hydrogen has been used to drive buses, cars, fork lift trucks and other forms of transport for a long time, but the number of applications is still limited. Projects are often on a small scale in order to gain experience with fuel cells and with using hydrogen. Nearly all these projects have run successfully. In order to make hydrogen commercially feasible, large-scale projects are necessary, as well as projects that are not just about vehicle technology but also address the logistical infrastructure. The HyMove project is an example of these: in addition to using cars and buses, it includes building a filling station in Arnhem.

This type of project enables us to perfect the technology, to increase the reliability of the applications and to boost production. Only the application of hydrogen on a large scale can reduce costs, thereby making its application economically profitable and commercially attractive. Large-scale projects are extremely appealing to technology companies, bringing about an increase in technological knowledge and innovation, which can act as a driver of economic growth.

In this section we present an overview of other hydrogen projects in the Netherlands and other countries, plus developments by vehicle manufacturers. These will make it clear that the experimental stage of hydrogen technology is long gone.