This was happening long before the price of gasoline spiked in September, according to Childers. He said that because his state is on the cutting edge of environmental issues, Hurricane Katrina only reinforced what the California Air Resources Board has been working on a number of years.
Childers, who works for the ARB, said renewable fuels research and testing will continue at a rapid pace and will become more refined in the next couple of years.
"Hydrogen is looking more like the preferred fuel of the future," Childers said. "Should the knowledge that hydrogen will someday work mean that we should stop all other work and investment on nearer-term alternatives is the billion dollar question."
He said retail cost comparisons between hydrogen vs. electricity or alcohol (E-85) are yet to be determined since hydrogen isn't commercially available. However, there are demonstration fueling stations located in several parts of California including San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Diego.
There are currently 13 places to refuel a hydrogen car in California, 17 new stations are planned for 2006 and by 2010, 170 points are planned through an initiative called the California Hydrogen Highway.
"Bulk industrial hydrogen is actually pretty cheap," Childers said. "Costs also vary by region and up until recently the cars were pretty cheap. But that will change."
Despite an emerging public preference for hydrogen, electricity is expected to remain cost effective and environmentally friendly to residents of California, Childers said.
He said electric vehicles are becoming more prominent and likened electric public transportation vehicles with golf carts or warehouse forklifts.
"Nay-sayers claim there is no market for cars that only go 50 to 200 miles on a (electric) charge," Childers said. "Automakers claim there is no market for cars that take a few hours to fill, but this would seem to be fine for a commuter vehicle when you own more than one."
According to Childers, both hydrogen and electric sources have a lot of merit. The other alternatives aren't as popular to the new generation of California motorists.
As an example, there's only one E-85 refueling station in all of California, which is in San Diego. In sharp contrast Minnesota has more than 100 and North Dakota has 27.
Ethanol, which is produced from corn, and biodiesel, produced from soybeans and canola, are more readily available in North Dakota and Minnesota because agriculture drives the products and, according to Childers, a region's capacity to produce a type of alternative fuel cost effectively may determine which fuel is most readily available in that area.
"Besides being the cleanest and most efficient, both electricity and hydrogen have another big advantage over other fuels they can be made in a variety of ways, some of which are renewable," Childers said. "They are the most flexible of the alternative fuels. This means you could make them from a variety of regional sources. It also means the power plant or hydrogen plant could shift to a new energy source in the future, but the fueling infrastructure and cars would not have to change. They are the most flexible of the alternative fuels."
Childers also pointed out that because California is so diverse, many believe that a variety of alternative fuels will someday be readily available. For instance, motorists who never leave a city like Los Angeles or San Francisco, might prefer electric cars. "Plug-in" people, as they are sometimes called, would recharge vehicle batteries by plugging the batteries into a wall outlet inside their garage.
Those who commute, as an example, from Davis or Lodi to Sacramento, might prefer hydrogen for the road economy. The farm sector, which remains an enormous part of California's economy, will most likely prefer the renewable biodiesel for the power and the good of the environment, according to Childers.
"ARB is working on a technology assessment that will be performed in 2006 and done in the first quarter of 2007 that might help answer the question about when hydrogen will be ready to go mainstream," Childers said. "The 'if' question seems to be asked less and less as it becomes more accepted."
In the meantime, Childers is one of the organizers of a Hybrid Vehicle Technologies symposium that will be held Feb. 1 and 2 in San Diego. The symposium, according to Childers, is designed for professionals to keep them abreast of a technology that is growing at a rapid pace.
"Plug-in people say you can have your cake and eat it too," Childers said. "And, we should drive plug-in hybrids until hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are ready."