Hydrogen is an important energy carrier as a viable future clean transport fuel. H2-fuelled vehicles are affordable, infrastructure investments are manageable and H2 and electric mobility are required to meet future CO2 emission targets. Plans are made to implement H2-refuelling infrastructure in Germany followed by roll-out over Europe by 2015. Logistically, liquid H2 appears the only viable option to supply the larger stations in the medium term. Without developing a liquefaction capacity, there is a serious risk to H2-infrastructure development and implementation. However, at present liquefaction of H2 is expensive, energy intensive and relatively small scale. Reduction of liquefaction costs via technology development and increased competition is crucial. IDEALHY is an enabling project for viable, economic liquefaction capacity in Europe, to accelerate rational infrastructure investment, and enable the rapid spread of H2-refuelling stations across Europe. The IDEALHY project researches, develops and scales-up data and designs into an optimised design for a generic liquefaction process at a scale of 30-50 te/day, representing a very substantial upscale over proposed and existing LH2-plants. The project also develops a detailed strategic plan for a prospective large-scale demonstration of efficient H2-liquefaction with options for location. The focus is to improve substantially efficiency and reduce capital costs of liquefaction through innovations, including linking LH2 production with LNG terminal operations to make use of available cryogenic temperatures for pre-cooling. Supporting economic and lifecycle assessment of the resulting gains in energy efficiency will be made, together with a whole chain assessment based on near term market requirements. IDEALHY will be undertaken by a partnership comprising world leaders in H2 distribution and liquefaction technologies, research institutes, academic partners and pioneering SME suppliers to the liquefaction indus