A Sustainable Energy Supply for Wales: Towards the Hydrogen Economy

摘要

Wales, a nation of nearly 3 million people within the United Kingdom, has its own devolvedgovernment, the National Assembly for Wales, with a legally binding commitment tosustainable development. The project described here aims to place Wales in a position tocreate wealth and employment through the opportunities presented by the transition to asustainable hydrogen economy.Wales has abundant natural energy resources, particularly wind, wave, tidal and biomass, anadaptable work-force, an active community of enterprises involved in exploitation ofrenewable energy who meet regularly at the National Assembly Sustainable Energy Group,and strong policy direction. The project highlights the opportunities provided by hydrogentechnology such as the potential for rural economic regeneration through local production ofhydrogen and the more efficient utilisation of intermittent renewable energy sources throughhydrogen storage.Public awareness and technology demonstration projects are key elements of the transition tohydrogen. The project team is pursuing public awareness projects based in schools andscience visitor centres, as well as defining several demonstration projects with appropriatesources of funding. The project Steering Group, drawn from industry, government agencies,non-governmental organisations and academia, works to ensure that the aims of the projectare being met and that relevant information is shared. As a resource for industry andgovernment the project team have produced a state-of-the-art review of scientific, technical,economic and policy aspects of hydrogen 'Hydrogen 2003', available from the website(www.h2wales.org.uk), to be updated yearly. The project gathers information on availabletechnology and safety standards necessary for the implementation of a hydrogen economy,reviews the resources available for sustainable hydrogen production in Wales and the locationand needs of major potential end-users, such as transport fleets. By January 2005 the projectwill provide an information framework for decision-making on policy and commercialdevelopments.