BERLIN, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Germany's ministers for economic affairs and energy, transport and digital infrastructure, education and research, as well as development, held a conference here on Tuesday on Germany's hydrogen strategy.
More than 700 participants discussed the future role of hydrogen in the transformation of Germany's energy system and climate protection. At the end of the year, the German government is planning to adopt its national hydrogen strategy.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier stressed that the production of CO2-free and CO2-neutral hydrogen would offer great industrial policy opportunities.
"We must take advantage of these and already set the course today for Germany to become the world's number one in hydrogen technologies," said Altmaier.
According to a document released by the four ministries at the conference, Germany's national strategy for hydrogen would aim to pave the way "to make Germany a leading international supplier of hydrogen technologies".
Furthermore, the document read that "an important first step is the establishment of a domestic hydrogen market", since a solid "home market" was indispensable in global competition.
Many studies and pilot projects with regards to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in transport would have been supported in recent years, said Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer at the conference on Tuesday.
"Now the automotive industry must bring affordable vehicles to the market and show people that the technology works reliably. Our hydrogen strategy should support the industry in this," said Scheuer.
For the development of climate-friendly cars, the German government wants to focus both on better batteries for electric vehicles as well as on hydrogen technology.
Internationally, countries such as Australia, China, Japan and Korea already strongly promoted hydrogen, according to the document. "This is why we are now setting the course for the market ramp-up of hydrogen technologies in order to open up national and international market opportunities for CO2-free hydrogen," reads the document.
