Chances and limits of solar hydrogen in the Federal Republic of Germany

Assuming that by the middle of the next century in West-Germany a CO2-reduction of over 60% may be necessary, the implementation of a hydrogen based economy is not only consistent with the condition of using the most economic energy supply; besides the use of other competitive technologies (energy conservation and renewables) the CO2-reducation targets actually force the introduction of hydrogen technologies. To achieve the Toronto target of an 80% CO2-reduction by the year 2050, the potential share of hydrogen in primary energy consumption could be about 30%. In West-Germany the annual cash-flow for such a scenario would be about 150 mrd ECU higher than today. But taking into account the increasing gross national product (GNP), the total relative costs of the energy systems will not be higher.