There are three main barriers concerning clean fuels use in mobility: the high cost of vehicles, the consumer acceptance that is often very low, and the lack of recharging and refuelling stations. These three aspects are strongly linked to each other in a vicious circle: on the one hand most of the people do not buy expensive vehicles and do not want to have problems to refuel. On the other hand, industries do not invest in technologies with a limited market and suitable recharging points are not built until a considerable number of vehicles is reached.

To change this situation the European Union, through the European Commission Vice President and responsible for Transport Siim Kallas, is promoting a new strategy on mobility and clean fuel. The "Clean Power for Transport Package", is a communication on a Directive focused on infrastructure and standards with an accompanying document describing an action plan for the development of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in shipping.

The aim of the strategy is to support the building of new refuelling stations in the whole European territory, thus guaranteeing a minimum level of infrastructure for clean fuels distribution, and at the same time to create a common EU wide standard for the equipment, such as the plugs for electric vehicles recharging and the hoses for hydrogen. The energy sources taken into account by the study are electricity, hydrogen, biofuels and liquefied and compressed natural gas.

For more information and to download the whole document, please visit the EC official website.