Harmonized Codes and Standards Deemed Urgent
Need at Michigan Forum
by Karen Hall
Vice President, Technical Operations of the
National Hydrogen Association

Forty experts from major automobile manufacturers, energy companies, and others met for two days at the Global Forum on Personal Transportation in Dearborn, Michigan on November 12 and 13.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation hosted this DOE-sponsored event to foster open dialog on the issues that must be addressed to achieve the vision of increased mobility worldwide while simultaneously reducing oil consumption and carbon emissions. Recommendations on personal transportation will be presented to Secretary Abraham in preparation for a G-8 meeting of Energy Ministers in February.

The participants indicated that the creation of an international task force could go a long way toward the creation of a global hydrogen infrastructure through the identification of necessary standards and the establishment of common certification processes for transportation.

Another key recommendation was to establish integrated learning demonstration projects to show the viability of a global hydrogen economy under the widest range of conditions. This could allow real world evaluation/assessment of hydrogen as a versatile energy carrier. The participants felt this could be an effective method to demonstrate multiple applications and to test pathways, while optimizing limited resources.