Due to their environmental and efficiency characteristics fuel cells are promising technological solutions for many energy related applications (stationary power generation, vehicle propulsion, portable equipment). This book describes the economic dynamics of fuel cells by analyzing their diffusion perspectives as well as the strategic and organisational arrangements designed to promote their development. The costs, risks and economic stakes of fuel cell technologies require both a sustained involvement from public entities and the setting up of innovation networks with a large variety of heterogeneous actors. This context corresponds to a new space for technological competition located at the intersection between firms, networks and national/regional systems of innovation. The book presents a comprehensive analysis of this cooperation/competition phenomenon through different theoretical and empirical investigations.

Presents a comprehensive analysis of economic aspects of fuel cell technology, a new and promising solution for power problems

0. Introduction: the economic dynamics of fuel cell technologies.- 0.1. Specific characteristics of fuel cell technologies.- 0.2. The heterogeneity of the stakeholders.- 0.3. Two main roles of networks in shaping the evolution of emerging technologies.- 0.4. The confrontation of many networks.- 0.5. The central and complex role of public policy.- 0.6. Outline of the book.- 0.7. Conclusive remarks.- 0.8. References.- I Fuel cell technologies: diffusion perspectives and governance of an emerging innovation.- 1. A state-of-the-art of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies: diffusion perspectives and barriers.- 2. The future of fuel cells in a long term inter-technology competition framework.- 3. Rationales for co-operation between firms and States within an emerging radical innovation.- 4. Potential economic impacts of fuel cell technologies.- II Fuel cell vehicles: an international comparison of public-private programmes.- 5. The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles and the US DoE Transportation Fuel Cells Programme.- 6. Fuel cells in Canada: from entrepreneurship to innovation clustering.- 7. The Japanese R&D system in the field of fuel cell vehicles.- 8. Fuel cell R&D within the European Framework Programmes.- Contributing Authors.