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The President's latest initiative
intends to compliment the FreedomCAR program, with an emphasis on
developing the technologies and infrastructure needed to produce,
store and distribute hydrogen fuel for use in fuel cell vehicles and
electricity generation.
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Peterborough, New Hampshire - February 3, 2003 [SolarAccess.com]
President Bush's State of the Union speech contained no shortage of
surprises, with his announcement of a major funding initiative for the
advancement of hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles no exception.
From environmentalists to leaders in the hydrogen
and fuel cell industries and automakers, the Bush announcement sent
ripples far and wide. Whether garnering praise or eliciting criticism,
hydrogen is in the nation's energy spotlight.
The big splash originated from the President's
US$1.2 billion Freedom Fuel Initiative to "…reverse America's
growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology needed for
commercially viable hydrogen powered fuel cells," as he said in the
speech.
Bush's proposal is the most recent in a series of
initiatives that his administration has supported since the announcement
of its National Energy Policy, in May 2001, which proposed that hydrogen
would be an important clean energy carrier for the future. Later, in
January 2002, FreedomCAR was announced, a Cooperative for Automotive
Research between General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, which was
designed to address the need for the development of fuel cell technology.
The President's latest initiative intends to
compliment the FreedomCAR program, with an emphasis on developing the
technologies and infrastructure needed to produce, store and distribute
hydrogen fuel for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation.
INFRASTRUCTURE QUESTION
Fuel cell technology itself has been around since
the 1839s. One of the first major commercial uses for the technology was
with NASA's Apollo missions in the late 60s. According to Bernadette Geyer
spokeswoman at the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, the technology has made drastic
improvements in both size and cost within the past few years. While fuel
cell cars are still cost-prohibitive to mass market, it's the necessary
infrastructure of creating and distributing hydrogen that may be the
biggest test of the technology's future success.
"The infrastructure question is looming
large and near," said Geyer. "The (fuel cell) industry has been
making leaps and bounds but the greatest challenge is
infrastructure."
The infrastructure challenge should not be
understated. Geyer said the dilemma is much like the question of which
came first: the chicken or the egg. Without an adequate refueling
infrastructure to, a mass market for these cars does not exist. And,
although car manufacturers have developed fuel cell powered prototypes,
production versions of these cars depends on an as yet built
infrastructure.
"Certainly the funding will help bring down
the cost faster, especially the infrastructure issues," said Geyer.
"We don't want to run into the same problems that battery powered
cars encountered. We need to try and make sure it won't be bad for
consumers."
Electrical vehicles were offered throughout the
90s but didn't encounter much success since the cars were geographically
limited to their charging stations - mostly car owner's homes.
While hydrogen is the most abundant element on
earth, it's not readily available in its natural form and must be removed
from other elements. This process of distilling pure hydrogen requires
energy and the best way to do it is still being developed.
"That's another question that's being looked
at," said Geyer. "Even if you pull your car up to a station that
offers hydrogen, where are they getting the hydrogen from?"
Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI),
who has directed much of his attention toward fuel cell vehicles through
RMI's spin-off research project, Hypercar, Inc. believes that
infrastructure hurdles won't be too formidable to solve.
"The supposed problems of safety, storage
and cost have already been solved for using hydrogen in cars," Lovins
told SolarAccess.com News. "The key is to make the cars very
efficient first, so the fuel cells become small enough to afford and the
compressed-hydrogen-gas fuel tanks become small enough to fit
nicely."
While hydrogen can be distilled or
"cracked" from many substances, natural gas may be the best
current option for hydrogen production.
"Natural gas is a very energy-efficient and
cost-effective way to make hydrogen, with climate impact initially halved
and later eliminated," said Lovins. "The fuel cost per mile
would be less than gasoline's cost today."
PRAISE FOR PLAN FROM AUTO INDUSTRY
Automakers in the United States, which have been
slower than their Japanese counterparts in adopting fuel cell technology,
have come out in praise of Bush's plan. (Sure about this? Said Geyer)
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM), a
trade organization that represents manufacturers who represent more than
90 percent of US vehicle sales said fuel cells hold great promise for
greater fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions, generating twice the fuel
economy of conventional engines.
"Automakers commend President Bush's
dedication to forging a government-industry partnership to develop fuel
cells," said AAM President & CEO Josephine S. Cooper.
"Fueling infrastructure is one of the major challenges for making
fuel cell vehicles commercially available, especially delivery of
hydrogen. Proper government and consumer incentives will be needed to
initiate this this infrastructure. For environmental gains to be realized,
consumers must be convinced that the new technologies will deliver the
performance, function, safety and utility they desire."
The Bush announcement has raised concerns
however, that efforts toward increasing the efficiencies of current
technologies may take a back seat to a hydrogen and fuel cell efforts that
may not reach fruition for many years.
"Many environmentalists think FreedomCAR
will be more convincing if accompanied by actions to speed adoption of the
interim, already available car-efficiency improvements that can save a lot
of oil and pollution while the fuel-cell cars are being brought to
maturity," Lovins said.
He cited currently available hybrid-electric
vehicles such as the one he drives that averages 64 miles per gallon.
CRITICISM, SUPPORT
Not everyone is coming out in praise of the
administration's plan.
As an environmental group, the Sierra Club might
be expected to welcome Bush's announcement, but Daniel Becker, the
director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program feels
otherwise.
"The auto industry is using the promise of
future fuel cells as a shield against using existing technology to
dramatically cut our oil dependence, and pollution, today," said
Becker. "This technology is sitting on the shelf while Detroit
dithers. The biggest single step we can take to curb global warming and
cut our dependence on oil is to make our cars and light trucks go farther
on a gallon of gas "."
George Earle of Plug Power, a leading US Fuel
Cell company, doesn't see it that way.
"Minor efficiency improvements in current
technologies won't get you there," Earle said.
Scott Redmond of FST Energy, a Hydrogen Energy
company, said that relying solely on current fuel efficiency improvements
will not solve the country's dependence on foreign oil.
"Not for the scope, the urgency and the
long-term future of America and the world," said Redmond." As
Jeremy Rifkin's book, The Hydrogen Economy and many contemporary reports
validate: the world is running out of oil almost 100 years earlier than
everybody thought."
While fuel cells operate on a renewable fuel, the
process by which the hydrogen is created takes energy and many feel that
the best scenario in the long run would be to use Renewable Energy such as
solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydro as the energy source to create
the hydrogen.
"Fossil fuels will be an important stepping
stone to make hydrogen available in the short term while we are
demonstrating and building the interest in fuel cell technology,"
Earle said. "As interest in fuel cells grows, support for building a
hydrogen infrastructure should increase. Ultimately, the hydrogen must be
produced from renewable resources to truly realize the benefits of this
technology (economic, security and environmental)."
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