Medvedev calls for more attention to hydrogen energy
MOSCOW– President Dmitry Medvedev called for paying more attention to the development of hydrogen energy.
“All countries are working on this, but we do not mention it among our priorities. That’s not great,” Medvedev said at a joint meeting of the commission on the modernisation and technological development of the Russian economy and the Presidium of the president’s Council on Science, Technology and Education on Wednesday.
“There are some innovative initiatives, but there is the opinion that we will begin mass commercial development somewhat later than the working group has projected,” Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina said.
At the same time, she did not rule out “possible breakthroughs” in this field.
Medvedev noted that other innovative energy solutions might not produce immediate results.
He said earlier that alternative energy sources would sooner or later replace traditional hydrocarbons.
“There is no doubt that hydrogen fuel, for the development of which billions of U.S. dollars are spent, will be obtained. This will be done for the sole purpose of not buying our oil,” Medvedev said.
“Budget organisations waste energy just as much,” he added.
Medvedev said the state should set an energy efficiency example for others to follow.
“When promoting the energy saving policy, the state should begin with itself, i.e. with state-owned organisations,” the president said.
“We should determine strict indicators and norms and ensure effective control over compliance with them,” he said.
Medvedev stressed the need to “use tangible financial incentives” in order to improve energy efficiency.
He said the country needs new studies in the field of renewable energy and new hydrogen and nuclear energy technologies.
The Energy Ministry is considering providing additional funding for the development of renewable energy in the country.
Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said earlier his ministry had received “serious” political support from President Dmitry Medvedev, who had chaired a meeting on energy and environmental issues earlier this week, and “will finance the development of renewable energy sources in Russia”.
Under the plan worked out by the ministry together with other interested agencies, the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy balance should grow to 4.5 percent by 2020.
The European Union has set itself the goal of bringing this index to 20 percent by the same time.
Russia’s capabilities for developing renewable energy appear to be much bigger than those in Europe.
The technical potential of renewable energy production in Russia is estimated at 4.6 billion tonnes of conventional fuel a year, which is five times more than the consumption of all fuel and energy resources in the country.
