Romania in September joined Austria’s initiative on the collaboration of EU Member States in common projects for the development of technologies based on renewable hydrogen.

The document was signed by Energy Minister Anton Anton at the Informal Energy Council and the high-level Conference ‘Charge for Change: Innovative Technologies for Energy-Intensive Industries’, carried out during 17-19 September 2018 in Linz, Austria.

Romania’s Energy Minister Anton Anton was the first Minister to sign the Declaration on the Hydrogen Initiative.

“Europe needs new technologies and methods to store electricity, an important condition for the energy security of the continent. The development of the European energy market is harder to achieve without a market for its storage. Hydrogen is one of the promising solutions, while it is also a non-polluting energy storage method. I wish this initiative to become much clearer as regards the opportunities it opens up for academia and research institutes for the development of hydrogen-based technologies,” Minister Anton has stated.

By signing this proposal, Romania commits to continue its involvement in the research and innovation sector relating to hydrogen use as a future energy source.

Renewable hydrogen use technologies can be used in the field of electricity storage, transport fuels, industrial applications, hydrogen injection into natural gas networks etc.

Hydrogen does not emit CO 2 at all when it is used as a clean energy source or clean fuel, and it can play an important role in the transition to a clean, low-carbon energy system. With these characteristics, it fits perfectly into the European desideratum of decarbonization of the energy industry and beyond.

Moreover, large corporations in the world have shown their preoccupation for hydrogen technologies for many years. For example, car manufacturer Hyundai has already opened hydrogen stations in countries like Germany.

Hydrogen is seen as a perfect replacement for gasoline or diesel at least for cars in major cities, thereby reducing metropolitan pollution. Instead of emitting gas, these cars will only release small doses of water vapor into the atmosphere.

However, the use of hydrogen as an alternative to conventional fuels is still in its infancy and its imposition on international markets could be done with the support of governments, given the high costs of manufacturing and fuelling motor vehicles with this new type of fuel.