The fuel cell and hydrogen technology will become available in the next few years, the first production sites are being built and there is research and development undertaken all over the world.

Precondition for the use of renewable energies is their economic viability. When this technology is used in great numbers the prices will decrease.

Right now we experience the instability of energy prices even though real shortages do not yet exist.

But the more real shortages will show up and the more people will realise that resources are limited, the more society will be looking for alternatives - And the best alternative of all is the sun!

Even though the hydrogen is not generated from renewable energy sources in the beginning the fuel cell - with hydrogen generated from natural gas - could reduce emissions because of her high efficiency.

The local emissions of road traffic could be lowered immensely.

In addition the emission of noise decreases because fuel cells are operating without any sound and electric motors are very silent as well. These advantages can be demonstrated very well on city buses with fuel cells.

Another field of application for the fuel cell are vehicle engines.

The fuel cells generates electric power for an electric motor in the car. In the tank of the motorcar liquid or gaseous hydrogen is stored.

A lot of automobile producing companies have already presented prototypes.

Up to now fuel stations for hydrogen are missing and this is an obstacle to the extensive introduction of these vehicles.

Vehicles from Opel, Ford and DaimlerChrysler

Fuel cells can be built in various sizes. They can be built extremely small for e.g. mobile phones or in the size of power stations.

Small fuel cells which are installed in the cellar of our houses instead of heating systems have an enormous potential. They generate heat and in addition electric power.

Large power stations could be replaced by several millions of residential fuel cell systems. At the same time they are reducing emissions because they use the fuel for the generation of electric power and heat.

Vaillant presents a model of such an system at the Bewag innovation Park.

The process of electrolysis converts electric power into hydrogen and oxygen:
The fuel cell reverses this. It generates electric power and heat from hydrogen and air.

Fuel cells are an important component in the energy supply of the future.

The perfect fuel for fuel cells is hydrogen.

Therefore energy which is generated from renewable sources, hydrogen and fuel cells supplement each other in a perfect way.

The fuel cell generates electric power and heat from hydrogen (and air). Even though fuel cells are fed with natural gas in the beginning their high efficiency leads to reduced emissions in comparison to conventional power stations that do not make use of the heat.

The difference between renewable energy sources and fossil energy sources is their availability over time. At some time very much energy is produced, sometimes only very small amounts or almost nothing (e.g. during the night).

In order to match demand and supply we need to store energy.

The best means of storing solar energy is hydrogen.

Hydrogen can be generated from all renewable energy sources and it can be stored gaseous or liquid.

Hydrogen serves as fuel for vehicles and aircraft and like natural gas it is transported in pipelines.

The only really reliable solution for all energy problems is the use of solar energy!

Every renewable energy source like windpower, waterpower, solarthermics, biomass or photovoltaics uses the power of the sun.

An energy supply which is based on renewable energy sources will be a mixture of a lot of different technologies.

Energy efficiency, decentralized generation of energy from renewable energy sources and the import of solar energy will enable a secure energy supply in the future!

More than 90% of the world`s energy requirement are met by burning fossil fuels.

By burning fossil fuels carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted. This gas is the main cause for the greenhouse effect and therefore responsible for the warming of our planet.

During the last 100 years the mean temperature on earth increased by one degree.

Further warming is inevitable if we do not reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

A reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases can only be achieved by reducing the burning of coal, oil and gas - and this has to be done in spite of the increasing demand for energy.

We need energy for a lot of purposes in our every day life. Whether we use the refrigerator, TV, computer whether we drive by car or by subway or whether we only enjoy light and heat, the driving force is always energy.

But energy is finite! We generate more than 90% of our energy from fossil sources like oil, gas or coal. During the next fifty years we will deplete almost all the remaining oil and gas on the world.

It is high time to think about the energy of the future!

The industrial nations are consuming almost all the energy: 17% of mankind consume more than 60% of the energy stocks.

The biggest part of mankind does not participate in energy consumption yet!

Today more than two billion people have no access to electric power and the world population will at least double in the next 100 years!

If all the people on world lived on the same standard as we do, the world`s remaining petroleum and gas would be used up in twenty years.

Our present way of live can not serve as a model for the whole world!