Roads2HyCOM

Roads2HyCom (R2H) is a project supported by the European Commission’s Sixth Framework programme. It started in October 2005 and will be running till November 2008.

Its purpose is to assess and monitor Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technologies for stationary and mobile energy applications. This is done by considering what the technology is capable of, relative to current and future Hydrogen infrastructures and energy resources, and the needs of communities that may be early adopters of the technology. By doing this, the project will support the Commission and stakeholders in planning future research activities.

The Project first tries to assess the capability of hydrogen technologies against the availability of infrastructure and the needs of users. Further analysis will try to identify evolutionary pathways by which current mainstream technologies can evolve towards the needs of a sustainable future; Another objective is to identify gaps and opportunities in technologies and infrastructure, and related economic issues.

Roads2HyCOM contributes to the engagement and training of early-adopting Hydrogen Communities /Regions to promote technology development and uptake.

The Project is structured to run alongside the linked HyLights co-ordination action which addresses Transport demonstration projects. It will use strategic and technical outputs of other projects, and the strategic activities of the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technology Platform, to support this work.

The role of the College of Europe lies in the workpackages dealing with socio-economical research and the development of a Hydrogen Community in general. In particular the College research team focusses on policy issues, the building up of interconnected innovation systems, cluster analysis and dessemination strategies for hydrogen.

Further information and first reports are available on the project's website, www.roads2hy.com.