Publication Date:05-June-2005
09:00 AM US Eastern Timezone
Source:Bob-Inglis Greenville News
Imagine a car that drives itself. Imagine a car that emits only water. Imagine highways so efficient with spacing between cars so compressed that more lanes aren't needed. Imagine the engineering and manufacturing jobs that would come from yet another "can-do" American solution. Imagine the world less prone to war because energy is more readily available.
All of this may sound like science fiction. But science fiction is about to become science — in part because of some folks in South Carolina.
Consider what's already here. BMW has a prototype fleet of cars that runs on hydrogen. The next model of the 7 Series BMW will offer an engine that can combust either gasoline or hydrogen. GM has a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle driving around Washington, D.C., today that fills up at a Shell Hydrogen fueling station.
Here in the Palmetto State, Clemson University is building the International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR), conceived by visionaries in the Upstate's private and public sectors and funded in significant part by BMW and Michelin. The University of South Carolina has been named as the nation's first Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for fuel cells. The city of Columbia has set its sights on becoming "The Hydrogen City." The Savannah River Site (recently designated a national lab) has been storing and handling a radioactive isotope of hydrogen (called tritium) for 30 years.
Only three things separate imagination from reality when it comes to reinventing the car: (1) commitment, (2) collaboration and (3) discovery.
• Commitment. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy challenged the Congress to commit America "to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik had sparked the challenge; Neil Armstrong's "one small step" from Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, answered it.
Today, we face a similar challenge. China has become the second largest consumer of oil in the world. India, trailing China by a decade or so, will add its gargantuan demand and $2.35-per-gallon gasoline will be a fond memory.
Recent votes in Congress notwithstanding, we must not rest our hopes on oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska. In 10 years ANWR may be producing one million barrels of oil a day. The United States now consumes over 20 million barrels a day.
National security demands a new Apollo mission — this one aimed at the garage rather than the moon.
• Collaboration. Smart cars and fuels of the future will come only from successful collaboration with capable partners. Here in South Carolina we — Clemson, USC and State; the Upstate, Midlands and Lowcountry — must work in common cause. The Savannah River Site should reach out to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. ICAR should invite Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee research universities, among others, to participate in its work. We Southerners, new in the car business, should respect the significance of Detroit, searching for ways to cooperate and to build the future with them.
• Discovery. Development of a hydrogen economy depends on breakthroughs in the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen. South Carolina can help. Nanotechnology centers at Clemson and USC may be able to add to the promising results announced recently by Rutgers University whereby the microscopic rearrangement of ammonia molecules made easier the separation of hydrogen from ammonia, opening up the possibility of producing hydrogen under the hood of the car. Perhaps solar, wind or biological units might someday produce enough power to run small water electrolysis units in homes, producing enough hydrogen for the household's daily consumption.
In the nearer term, a new generation of nuclear power plants can be built that can efficiently "crack" large quantities of water, producing enough hydrogen to supply pipelines leading to filling stations. One of the best locations for a next-generation nuclear plant is the Savannah River Site. The site is large, its neighbors are accustomed to nuclear activity and it has expertise in the storage of hydrogen.
At a recent panel discussion, a GM executive was asked about the wisdom of his company's investment of over $1 billion in hydrogen. Like BMW, GM intends to lead the transformation to a hydrogen economy. "How can you be so sure," the questioner asked, "that 30 years from now there will be a supply of hydrogen to run this new car of yours?" The GM executive paused for a moment and then responded, "How can you be so sure that 30 years from now there will be a supply of gasoline to run your car?"
The truth is, we can't be sure there will be gas to run our cars. That's why we need to get with it and get on to fuels of the future. If we play it right we can create lots of new jobs by retooling the car; we can clean up our air (especially important that we get this technological fix before the Chinese start driving cars like we do); and we can take the oil pressure off the Middle East.
Like the Apollo missions and the Manhattan Project before that, America is in a race. Get ready to run; the race comes through South Carolina.
Bob Inglis represents Greenville, Spartanburg, Union and a portion of Laurens County in the U.S. House of Representatives. He chairs the Science Committee's Research Subcommittee. He represented the 4th Congressional District from 1993 to 1998 and was re-elected in 2004.