Bush Promises Fuel-Cell Future
A billion-dollar gift horse shows up in the State of the Union address — but will throwing money at fuel cells make them come true?
by Joseph Szczesny (2003-02-03)
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No one looks an enormous gift horse in the mouth — and in that proverbial vein, automakers quietly laid aside brave speeches about the creativity of private enterprise to praise President George W. Bush's decision to pour $1.2 billion more into the development of a new kind vehicle that will use hydrogen instead of gasoline for fuel.
"In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about, not through endless lawsuits or comment and control regulations, but through technology and innovation," said Bush, who offered taxpayer money for research funding to develop cleaner, hydrogen-powered automobiles.
"A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car - producing only water, not exhaust fumes," Bush said.
"With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom - so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen and pollution free," he said. The new money comes on top of the administration's earlier commitment to fuel-cell-oriented Freedom Car effort.
Foreign dependence
The President said he hoped the research in fuel cells would ultimately help make the U.S. less dependent on imported oil and enhance national security. The U.S. currently imports 55 percent of the oil it consumes and that is expected to grow to 68 percent by 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Two-thirds of the 20 million barrels of oil Americans use each day goes into fuel tanks of cars and trucks.
In terms of the national security, the money set aside for fuel cell research is roughly about what it will cost to replace the U.S.S. Constellation, the 41-year-old aircraft carrier that is now deployed in the Persian Gulf.
"It's absolutely vital to promote energy independence for the United States while improving the environment, and we believe we can be an important part of the solution," said J.T. Battenberg, chief executive of Delphi Corp., the giant automotive supplier based in Troy, Mich. Battenberg, whose comments were typical of those issued by the industry, added he fully supported Bush's effort.
"Fuel cells hold great promise for greater fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions, generating twice the fuel economy of conventional engines," noted a GM official. GM has become the industry most vocal champion of the fuel cell technology.
"We have been working on development of fuel cell technology and welcome a greater collaborative effort between the auto industry and the U.S. government. The collaboration could help bring these alternative fuel source technologies to market even faster," General Motors spokesman Chris Preuss said.
Josephine Cooper, chief executive of Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, also said, "The alliance believes the president's commitment to research funding will quicken the development of fuel cell automobiles."
Contrarian voices
Dan Becker of Sierra Club and a frequent critic of the auto industry, however, accused the auto industry of using the promise of fuel cell cars at some point in the future as a shield against adopting existing technology that could make cars cleaner and more efficient.
Indeed, there are plenty of skeptics inside the auto industry as well. While several automakers have built vehicles that run on power from fuel cells, the task of building a commercially feasible fuel cell vehicle remains daunting, executives have noted.
DaimlerChrysler has aggressively pushed development of fuel cells and Mercedes-Benz’ NECAR 5 became the first fuel cell-powered vehicle to drive all the way across the United States.
But global automakers have poured millions of dollars into fuel cell research over the past decade, and while the technology is vastly improved, it is still very expensive. Dieter Zetsche said in speech in Toronto last week "that fuel cell vehicles are not yet commercially viable." Currently, fuel cells are ten times more expensive than internal combustion engines, according to the DOE.
Stuart Schorr, a Chrysler Group spokesman, noted the new initiative from the Bush administration also will stress the infrastructure needed to deliver hydrogen.
"We think that's important," Schorr said. "Infrastructure is a major hurdle to consumer acceptance of fuel cells."
In a statement issued after the President's speech, the DOE said part of the new program will be to lower the cost of hydrogen. Hydrogen is four times as expensive to produce as gasoline from natural gas. "Freedom Fuel seeks to lower that cost enough to make fuel cell cars cost-competitive with conventional gasoline-powered vehicles by 2010; and to advance the methods of producing hydrogen from renewable resources, nuclear energy, and even coal," the DOE said.
Hydrogen is still tricky to handle and can explode with enormous force. "Current hydrogen storage systems are inadequate for use in the wide range of vehicles that consumers demand," the DOE statement acknowledged.
"Fueling infrastructure is one of the major challenges for making fuel cell vehicles commercially available, especially delivery of hydrogen," added AAM's Cooper.
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