BMW was the first car maker in the world to focus consistently on the development of its cars with the use of hydrogen. BMW has developed the concept: BMW CleanEnergy, BMW Group's Energy Strategy. The long-term objective is to avoid emissions and use energy recovered in a regenerating process.

There are important reasons for this strategy. In July 1998 the Association of the European Automobile Industry (ACEA) made a commitment to the European Union to reduce the CO2 emissions of all newly registered European cars to an average of 140g CO2/km by the year 2008. This equals a reduction in CO2 emissions by 25% versus 1995 and amounts to an average fuel consumption of new cars of just 6.0 litres/100 km (47.1 mpg Imp).

It is however unlikely that targets to significantly reduce emissions to below 140g CO2 /km can be achieved by vehicle-related, technical improvements for reducing fuel consumption alone. A fuel that is either low, or completely carbon free, will be required. The long-term solution in this context is hydrogen.

BMW Group is continually promoting the introduction of hydrogen as a source of energy, establishing partnerships with other companies and encouraging decision-makers and the energy industry to start the process of implementation now.