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To: Think4Yourself who wrote (73249)	9/13/2000 8:02:39 AM
From: warren harris	Respond to of 95453

Outside the box...... AO - Oil Costs Boost Hydrogen Conference MUNICH, Germany, Sep 13, 2000 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Protests across Europe against rising oil prices have magnified the significance of what otherwise might be just a pie-in-the sky conference of tree huggers extolling the benefits of an alternative, environmentally friendly fuel. Hyforum 2000 is the first global summit promoting hydrogen as "the ultimate energy system" capable of reducing both pollution and the global reliance on oil producing nations. Beyond environmentally concerned scientists, big corporations such as oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell and automaker BMW are lining up to show support for the colorless, odorless gas as possibly the leading energy source of the new century. "Because of growing consumption, it is expected that petroleum and natural gas production, fueling this economic boom, will peak around the years 2010 to 2020 and then start to decline," said T. Nejat Veziroglu, president of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy. "Hydrogen is the logical next stage, because it is renewable, clean and very efficient," Veziroglu said during Monday's opening press conference. Nearly 600 energy experts from around the world are attending the forum, which ends Friday. Hydrogen is one of the world's most plentiful elements - most commonly found bond with oxygen in the form of water. Because of that, its supplies are virtually limitless. But even hydrogen's biggest supporters admit hydrogen energy has its limits - beginning with price. As an energy source, it has long been viewed as an exotic fuel reserved for space travel. Hydrogen's only exhaust is water vapor. That means no more clouds of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other pollutants that are the byproducts of gasoline and are believed to contribute to global warming. Munich-based car maker BMW is displaying its new hydrogen-powered car - a project long in the works on the assumption oil wells will eventually run dry and that environmental protection regulations will make gasoline engines obsolete. BMW head of development, Burkhard Goeschel, told the conference that his company aims to have 20 percent of its cars hydrogen fueled by 2020. Nearly all major car companies, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors and Toyota, are working on similar programs - a development that would take the bite out of OPEC's grip on oil supplies. Oil standard-bearer Royal Dutch/Shell was on hand at the conference to pitch its plan for a hydrogen-base future. "We believe our customers will want to change to hydrogen in the future because it will have environmental and commercial advantages," said company chairman Mark Moody-Stuart. Key to the new technology are so-called fuel-cells that produce electricity through a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. The result is power to run vehicles with no pollution, water vapor being the main byproduct. Hydrogen supporters say fuel cells will eventually power much more than just cars. They will also heat homes, light cities and even power such things as laptop computers and cell phones through tiny hydrogen packets. Making fuel cells is expected to be a $350 million industry in North America alone by 2005. Hydrogen is expensive at roughly $1.80 a liter, compared with a current pump price of 29 cents a liter for gasoline before taxes. Those prices are expected to come down, but only after energy companies build new hydrogen processing plants, develop new ways to transport and store the unstable chemical and create a network of hydrogen service stations. All that could take decades and billions of dollars. Advocates are split on how to adapt the new technology. Oil companies favor a gradual phase in, with hydrogen created by splitting it off other hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas or methanol, a process that still creates greenhouse gas byproducts. Environmentalists are pushing for hydrogen creation through extraction from water, which has no byproducts. And while BMW is already producing a hydrogen powered sports sedan that can reach 136 miles an hour, the tank needs to be refilled after every 217 miles. The car won't be for sale until the next five to seven years. Still, participants see Hyforum 2000 as the opening blow in an increasingly nasty war against carbon-based fuels and cartels such as OPEC, which has a vested interest in keeping oil on top. OPEC is "beginning to see the seed of threat to the future of oil," said Robert Priddle, executive director of the International Energy Agency. Forum organizer Carl-Jochen Winter even called on the G-7 group of richest nations to form OHEC, or the Organization of Hydrogen Energy utilizing Countries, as a direct counterbalance to petroleum cartel OPEC. "It will be a revolutionary change in the energy industry," the German researcher said about the coming wave of hydrogen-based fuels. "Hardly anybody talks about it, but it's only 20 years in the future." By HANS GREIMEL AP Business Writer Copyright 2000 Associated Press, All rights reserved