Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who serves as the co-chair of the Senate Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus, spent time last week meeting with automakers and discussing the steps the Palmetto State has taken to take the lead in the field of hydrogen research.
“What Detroit was to the automotive industry, South Carolina can be to hydrogen,” Graham said. “My message to the CEOs was that as a nation we need to become less dependent on foreign oil. To help us achieve that goal, it’s my hope the next generation of automobiles will be hybrids not solely dependent on gasoline as a fuel source.”
Graham added, “It would be irresponsible if 50 years from now we’re still reliant on Middle Eastern oil to drive our national economy. We need to get away from fossil fuels and start looking at using different sources of energy, such as hydrogen, to power our automobiles.”
Fred Humes, executive director of the Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield counties, said Graham has been a great supporter of the hydrogen program at the Savannah River Site.
“He has done a good job promoting this for us,” said Humes, who admits his staff has met with many of the leading automobile manufacturers in an effort to get partnerships to move the research forward.
In September, Toyota announced it had entered a five-year cooperative agreement with the Savannah River National Laboratory to help make hydrogen-fueled automobiles practical for widespread use, said Washington Savannah River Company spokesperson Angie French.
The Toyota Technical Center U.S.A. (TTC) and SRNL will work together on research and development of an improved hydrogen storage material for potential automotive applications. So far, TTC and SRNL have defined two research and development tasks that they will pursue together.
Funding for the two tasks, which amounts to more than $2 million over the next three years, is provided by TTC, Toyota Motor Company’s American technical center, the groups announced in a press release in September. About half of the funding will come to SRNL for their portion of the research and development work; the other half will cover TTC’s efforts.
Graham said the steps already taken by automakers are positive, but he wants more focus on becoming less dependent on foreign fossil fuels.
“All the automobile manufacturers understood the importance of hybrid cars, but right now there is no consensus in the industry on how they will develop,” Graham said.
“Congress may need to assist this
development by offering additional tax incentives and setting attainable
standards for manufacturing,” he added. “The future will be dominated by
cars that don’t solely run on gasoline, and the sooner we can make progress
in that area the better.”