RD Activities on Nuclear Hydrogen Production in the European Union

摘要

With the worldwide increasing interest in hydrogen as a clean energy carrier and potential fuel of the future, Europe has embarked on comprehensive research, development, and demonstration activities to pave the way for the transition from a fossil towards a CO_2 emission free energy structure. Policy groups such as the "High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells" (HLG) or the "European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform" have been created recently in the European Union to develop European consensus on the introduction of hydrogen energy and to define a strategy for a European roadmap. A"Quick Start" initiative launched by the European Commission resulted in 16 contracts (as of March 2004) covering various technologies of hydrogen and fuel cells with approx. 100 million Euro of EU funding within the Framework Programme (FP) 6 (2002-2006) to be matched by corresponding private funding. Another 150 million Euro of EU funding are planned to be awarded in later calls. Hydrogen production technologies are strongly focusing on CO_2-neutral or CO_2-free methods as represented by, e.g., biomass conversion or thermo-chemical water splitting processes or reforming of fossil fuels plus CO_2 sequestration. Primary energy sources include nuclear and renewable energies. With EURATOM as a new member of the "Generation-Ⅳ International Forum" (GIF), R&D activities in different European countries have been starting to develop the design of a GenⅣ nuclear reactor with the potential of providing both electricity and process heat for the production of hydrogen. The presentation will describe some of the European FP activities in more detail.