FCH JTI holds national launch event in Italy

The Italian launch of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH) JTI calls has taken place in Rome. The calls were announced at an ‘info-day’ event organised by the Agency for the Promotion of European Research on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research.

The calls concern a promising field that could allow crucial objectives at European level to be achieved (cutting carbon dioxide emissions, reducing energy dependence on hydrocarbons contained in oil and natural gas – expensive and polluting fossil fuels – for example) and also support economic growth by creating new jobs. The EU expects fuel cells and hydrogen-based technologies to create innovative applications that might innovate transport systems and facilitate distributed power generation, as well as deal with the ‘discontinuous’ character of renewable energies, i.e. wind power.

Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) is a public private partnership with the purpose of accelerating the entry of these technologies into the market. At the European level, FCH JU joins the efforts of three stakeholders: the European Commission; Research Grouping N.ERGHY, including research centres and European Universities and representing its relevant scientific community; and the NEW Energy World Industry Grouping (NEW-IG), comprising big industries and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), leaders in these sector. The partnership implements specific initiatives, starting from the promotion of calls like this one. Its purpose is to support research and innovation activities as well as the most innovative and market-oriented demonstration projects that pursue three priorities: hydrogen storage, road vehicles and infrastructures; and energy efficient production.

The deadline for applying is 6 November 2014.