HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGIES AND THE TECHNOLOGY LEARNING-CURVE

On their bumpy road to commercialization, hydrogen production, deliver y and conversion technologies not only require dedicated research, dev elopment and demonstration efforts but also protected niche markets an d early adopters. While niche markers utilize the unique technological properties of hydrogen, adopters exhibit a willingness to pay a premi um for hydrogen fueled energy services. The concept of the technology learning curve is applied to estimate the capital requirements associa ted with the commercialization process of several hydrogen technologie s. (C) 1998 International Association for Hydrogen Energy.