The parade was organized by Hydrogen Link Denmark, the Danish national network for advancing hydrogen transportation. It started at the hydrogen refueling station in central Malmö and, after stopping at the recently inaugurated Copenhagen refueling station, finished at the Danish Parliament building.

There, an Industry Update meeting was held where key players in the industry updated stakeholders on their work towards commercialization of hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure. Panellists included leaders of the automotive industry, major European fuel and technology companies, and representatives from significant hydrogen projects in Europe.

The parade of hydrogen cars featured the Fiat Panda Fuel Cell H2/CNG Mixture, Honda FCX Clarity, Mercedes Benz B-Class F-Cell and A-Class F-Cell, Opel HydroGen4, and the TH!NK Hydrogen.

These vehicles will be used to shuttle delegates around Copenhagen during the upcoming COP15 UN Climate Change Conference 2009. The organizers are offering test-drives to interested participants and observers.

‘The world’s energy security problem is critical for the transportation sector, but the industry is working with very clear targets which perfectly complement the ones to be developed in Copenhagen,’ says Aksel Mortensgaard, director of the Danish Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells. ‘Clear support from COP15 delegates will boost this technology to a level which allows viable commercialization.’

The message from the industry players at the Danish Parliament meeting is clear: the use of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies offers significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. They will also play a major role in the transformation of the world’s energy and transport infrastructure from one based on fossil fuels to an electricity-based system.