Japan has revised its Strategic Roadmap for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells with more ambitious targets.

If today 500 fuel cell vehicles are on the roads, the country plans to have about 40,000 fuel cell vehicles by 2020; 200,000 by 2025; and about 800,000 by 2030. The expectations are high for distribution too. The number of hydrogen stations is going to grow from 80 today to about 160 stations by 2020 and about 320 stations by 2025.

The council discussed the technical and economic challenges concerning the utilization of hydrogen generated using renewable energy. The new plan published by METI also calls for research and development to reduce the cost of fuel cells to one-fourth the current level.