Pilot... I think this is what you are talking about...
=======================================================
Tuesday October 21 5:45 PM EDT
Fuel cell breakthrough reported
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 _ A public-private research team has reported the successful
application of fuel cell technology to automobiles using gasoline, predicting its use in low-pollution
cars by 2005.
Energy Secretary Federico Pena and representatives of private industry said successful tests last
week should clear the way for prototype automobiles, which get double the gas mileage of current
vehicles, within two years.
Gary Mittleman, president and chief executive officer of Plug Power of Latham, N.Y., one of the
partners in the project, said: ''This breakthrough is a major step toward the advancement of
zero-emission vehicles.''
The technology of fuel cells dates back to 1839, when British scientist Sir William Grove discovered
that combining hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of a conductor produces electricity, with water
vaper as its only waste.
But while fuel cells have been used for decades by NASA, they have been too large and expensive
for widespread commercial use. Sizes and prices, however, have been dropping rapidly with
technological improvements.
Researchers seeking applications for fuel cells in the automotive world, however, still faced the even
larger problem of generating and supplying huge amounts of hydrogen.
The breakthrough reported today creates an automobile that takes gasoline and extracts the
hydrogen necessary to power the fuel cells. The idea is considered a ''bridge technology'' that would
allow the introduction of fuel cells with existing worldwide networks of gasoline stations.
Plug Power has been working with Arthur D. Little of Cambridge, Mass. , to develop the technology
under a $15 million Energy Department contract.
A leader in fuel cell technology, Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, Canada, already has
developed a prototype vehicle, in which its fuel cells are powered by methanol.
Both Ballard and the Energy Department team said they hoped to begin producing cars by 2005.
_- |
