BMW And Total Promote Fuel Of The Future"

BMW And Total Promote Ongoing Development Of Hydrogen As Fuel Of The Future

BMW Group and petroleum company TOTAL have agreed to cooperate closely in future in promoting hydrogen as a source of energy in road traffic.

The two companies have signed an agreement specifying that TOTAL will set up and operate three hydrogen filling stations in Europe by the end of 2007, supporting the introduction of BMW hydrogen cars into the market.

The two companies already cooperate in Berlin in the practical testing of hydrogen as a source of energy. Acting in the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) Berlin Initiative supported by the German Federal Government, TOTAL opened a public filling station in March 2006 offering not only conventional fuel, but also hydrogen. This public filling station takes the place of the pilot test station TOTAL had already been operating in Berlin since 2002.

Before the end of this year, TOTAL will be opening another public filling station with hydrogen supply pumps in Detmoldstrasse in Munich, near BMW's Research and Innovation Centre, the well-known FIZ. The decision on the third European location for a hydrogen filling station is to be taken in the next few weeks.

"Parallel to the establishment of the appropriate hydrogen infrastructure, the BMW Group is consistently promoting the introduction of hydrogen cars. Currently BMW is in a process of series development, and in less than two years we will be presenting a BMW 7 Series Hydrogen Car to the public", states Professor Burkhard Göschel, board member BMW AG for development and purchasing.

"As a leading company in processing and marketing petroleum products in Europe, TOTAL also wishes to play a leading role in the industrial and technical development of hydrogen as a fuel. As a source of energy and from the perspective of environmental care, hydrogen offers clear benefits already proven and substantiated in practice", emphasizes Michel Bénézit, TOTAL's director general for refinery operations and marketing.

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