Hydrogen-powered road vehicles. The health benefits and drawbacks of a new fuel

Because of the political, social and environmental problems associated with dependency on fossil fuels, there is considerable interest in alternative energy sources. Hydrogen is regarded as a promising option, particularly as a fuel for road vehicles. The Dutch Energy Research Centre (ECN) recently published a vision of the future, in which it suggested that by 2050 more than half of all cars in the Netherlands could be running on hydrogen.
Assuming that the hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources, migration to hydrogen-powered vehicles would also curb carbon dioxide emissions. In the United States, Japan and Europe, considerable public and private investment is therefore being made with a view to developing the technologies needed to make the creation of a hydrogen-based economy possible within a few decades.

Committee

• Professor W.F. Passchier, Professor of Risk Analysis, Maastricht Universit, chairman
• Dr. J.W. Erisman, Chemist, Biomass, Coal & Environmental Research Unit Manager, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, Petten
• Drs. P.J. van den Hazel, Physician, specialist in environmental medicine, Central Gelderland Social Support Unit, Arnhem
• Professor D. Heederik, Professor of Health Risk Analysis, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University
• Professor R. Leemans, Professor of Environmental System Analysis, Wageningen University and Research Centre
• Dr. J. Legler, Toxicologist, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam
• Dr. J.P. van der Sluijs, Researcher in science, technology and society, Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation, Utrecht University
• J.W. Dogger, Health Council, The Hague, scientific staff
• Dr. P.W. van Vliet, Health Council, The Hague, scientific staff