International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy Meets in DC
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by Chris Bordeaux, DOE, and Lauren Inouye, Sentech, Schatz Energy Research Center

The first Ministerial Meeting of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), featuring a plenary address from Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, a Ministerial Ride and Drive with fuel cell-powered vehicles, and expert presentations on technical and policy challenges, was held November 19-21 in Washington DC, at the OmniShoreham Hotel.

The goal of the IPHE is to efficiently organize, evaluate and coordinate multinational research, development and deployment programs to advance the transition to a global hydrogen economy.  The idea of an international partnership focusing on hydrogen was first proposed by Secretary Abraham in Paris, at an April meeting of the IEA.

Representatives of 16 countries, including the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, the EC, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, India, Iceland, Norway, Australia, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea signed the Terms of Reference, an agreement laying out the vision and structure of the partnership, in a celebratory ceremony.

In addition, over 700 representatives from government, industry, national laboratories and other research organizations attended discussions on the technical, policy and business challenges to developing a hydrogen economy and participated in public-private dialogue sessions to discuss solutions to these challenges.

In addition to the Ministers from the IPHE partners, Secretary of Energy Abraham was joined by Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, and Chairman of the White House Council of Environmental Quality, James Connaughton.  Speakers from the private sector included Jeremy Bentham, CEO of Shell Hydrogen and Don Paul, Vice-President of Chevron Texaco.

The IPHE will be governed by a Steering Committee, currently, chaired by the US. The Implementation and Liaison Committee, concerned with more technical and day-to-day aspects of the IPHE, is co-chaired by Germany and Iceland. The Implementation and Liaison Committee is also responsible for maintaining communications with the private sector.

For more information about the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy, contact Chris Bordeaux at (202) 586-3070 or Mike Mills at (202) 586-6653 at the Department of Energy. ©2003. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of the National Hydrogen Association.
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