It’s been an interesting 30 days. On April 9, Honda’s wondrous FCX Clarity was named the World Green Car of the Year at the New York International Auto Show. Less than a month later, on May 7, Energy Secretary Chu proposed eliminating the program designed to make sure the U.S. reaps the environmental and energy security benefits of fuel cell vehicles, and that U.S. companies can meet the competition with their own models.
Now that the budget is out, word is circulating that the Chu proposal to cut $100 million from the hydrogen-fuel cell budget came at the last minute. The President’s Office of Management and Budget had approved full funding for the hydrogen program, but proposed cuts in nuclear and coal programs. The Department of Energy appealed, and proposed to move the money out of hydrogen and into those clean, green, benign pathways of coal and nuclear power. Go figure.
But it’s not that simple. Dr. Chu made it clear that he believes in the battery pathway for vehicles. The benefits of this pathway depend largely on “greening” the grid, which will take decades. Meantime we still get more than half our electricity from coal in the U.S. The Energy Information Administration, a DOE agency, estimates we will still be getting half (47%) of our power from coal in 2030 and the amount of coal fired electricity will grow by 20% over the next 20 years.
As an advocate for EVs in the wars in California in the 1990’s I can also say that battery vehicles are tough to sell to consumers. Yes, they ought to be easier. And I still believe battery EVs can fill an important market niche. Maybe something has changed that justifies Chu’s fresh optimism. But until the battery advocates all start buying battery EVs I’ll be a skeptic.
Bob Rose, Executive Director, US Fuel Cell Council
PS, you can find a joint statement from the US Fuel Cell Council and the National Hydrogen Association on this budget proposal here.
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May 8, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
Jennifer says...
http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/top-25-things-i-wish-president-barack-obama-knew-about-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-and-plug-in-battery-cars/ - great blog post. Please check out http://www.fuelcells.org/info/grassroots.html and send a note to your Congressman or local media to let them know you don’t support this major kneecap to the fuel cell/hydrogen industry just as things are really starting to develop.
May 25, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
glerald hubler says...
This is shear stupity, is this more big oil running the world.G.L Hubler
June 1, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
Philip Block says...
Mr. Hubler,I beg to disagree with you. In fact some of the oil companies are backing and into H2 generation/ Fuel Cells. It is GE who is into nuclear power. GE gave up on Fuel Cells years ago and concetrated on nuclear power–the US navy a big customer. Nuclear power helped destroy Westinghhouse. The Westingouse nuclear division is owned by Toshiba-a Japanese company. GE has been a big backer of the Democratic party and now that party is playing payback by supporting nuclear power. In Georgia, GA power is planning to install two new nuclear plants at a cost of 14 billion dollars, not including transmisson lines and associated confiscated land for such. Recently, it was announced the cost will be paid by the taxpayers. Why should the execs. at GA Pwr. install Fuel Cells when they can get free nuclear power from the taxpayers and help GE get out o fthe finicial mess they are in, courtesy of Inmelt, the CEO. So quit the typical blue collar, envromentalist, nonsense that oil is the cause of everything bad. Remember, oil lubricates every piece of machinery and is used in making a lot of materials, ie plastics. Look around a hospital. Without oil, the building and the associated equipment could not have been built. So, the next time they wheel you into one, look around and say thank you to the oil companies. No I do not work for an oil company or own any stock in one. But as an engineer, I fully realize very little of today’s modern could not exist without oil. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.