Good news, Insiders. As expected, the full US Senate Appropriations Committee approved without debate a $190 million budget for fuel cells and hydrogen in the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office. This restores nearly all the cuts proposed by Energy Secretary Chu that we’ve been talking about the last few weeks.
So as of now, the House and Senate have approved differing budget amounts (the House approved $108 million). The respective bills must be approved by the full House and full Senate - a process which might begin as early as next week (week of July 13); then a final bill will be written by a conference committee of House and Senate leaders. We will be working to help them make the right decision to achieve a final budget of $190 million.
The process could take several more weeks or even months, but we’re on the right path! Please continue to voice your support through our action page, http://capwiz.com/fuelcells/home/, and make sure you are following @fuelcellinsider on Twitter. We’ve been posting breaking news and legislative updates.
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July 11, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
anon says...
This is very bad news: it shows that it’s politics as usual in D.C., with special interest groups like USFCC and NHA continuing to get what they want whether or not is good for anyone else. “We will be working to help them make the right decision”. In other words, “We will be working to make sure that the fuel cell ‘industry’ and the ‘hydrogen community’ remain firmly attached to the government teat for as long as possible despite the fact that all the $billions in funding over all these years have not provided even a shred of benefit to the public as a whole.”
July 13, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Pterosoar says...
Actually, this is a small amount compared to private sector investment. The shameful truth is how small the hydrogen energy budget is in comparison to the DOE budget as shown in this graph by G. Rambach. http://www.hydrogencommerce.com/images/DOE-FY2008Request-GR.jpg The struggle to regain “business as usual” represents no less than a failed US handing over its technological lead in hydrogen energy to Europe and Japan. I used to think this was a bad thing but now I look forward to quality imports - particularly that renewable home fueling station kit to fuel my hydrogen car.
July 13, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
Jennifer says...
Anon - Actually, the program Bush proposed was only 1.2 billion or so over 5 years and the $190 million is really a drop in the bucket compared to what DOE has allocated for biofuels, batteries, nuclear and even coal. Why are you angry about this small investment in hydrogen? Pterosoar is right that the private sector has invested a lot more money in fuel cells and hydrogen and I don’t think the car companies would be continuing down this path if they didn’t think it was a crucial part of the energy porfolio.
July 13, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
Pterosoar says...
Without an agressive program to build hydrogen fueling stations, the US Hydrogen Program is an exercise in futility. Just like the historic US R&D investment in wind power, the automotive fuel cell program is destined to benefit foreign countries who will free themselves from imported oil while we watch our own economy self-destruct and wish we could travel out of town in our silly electric cars.
July 14, 2009 @ 9:27 am
anon says...
“the $190 million is really a drop in the bucket compared to what DOE has allocated for biofuels, batteries, nuclear and even coal”Biofuels, batteries, nuclear and coal are all real energy technologies that provide real solutions in the real world. Hydrogen and fuel cells for cars, as we have seen, are hopeless pipedreams that have never provided a shred of utility to anyone. The ONLY interests to have ever benefited from public spending on hydrogen and fuel cells are the special interests: USFCC and NHA members. “I look forward to quality imports - particularly that renewable home fueling station kit to fuel my hydrogen car”Sheer fantasy. Take a high school physics class.”the private sector has invested a lot more money in fuel cells and hydrogen and I don’t think the car companies would be continuing down this path if they didn’t think it was a crucial part of the energy porfolio”GM wasted more money on fuel cell cars than any other automaker. We see how smart GM is (bankrupt). Ford finally wolke up:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601209&sid=av4hL0LC6G6kOnly a matter of time until Toyota and Honda do the same.
July 21, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
Philip Block says...
Well, anon, if you had been in my engineering class I would have given you an “F” for not doing your homework. 1. Fuel Cells have not been beneficial to anyone? What do you think basically powered the space program? Satellites and the wonderful GPS are a result of that program.2.If you had done your homework, you would have discovered that thousands of Fuel Cells have been installed all over the world the past 10 years.3. Schools all over the country have had all sorts of Fuel Cell competitions and classes going on for over 10 years.4. The University of South Carolina has been a major player in the Fuel Cell program and Columbia S.C. is touting itself as an H2 Capital.5. High School Physics classes? It has been my personal experience the the majority of Government run school science teachers have no idea what a Fuel Cell is and have very little if any knowledge of power plant engineering.6. The concept of the central power plant, that served us well for a hundred years, has been obseleted by technology and basically died with the ending of the 20th century (although those power co. execs. whose mentality is still stuck in the 20th century cannot see it). 6. The automobile that was basically developed in 1885, took until circa 1908 for a car to be manufactured that the common folk could afford. It took until that time for a gas station to be built. 7.They laughed at Bell and his “toy”. They laughed at Pasteur and his germ theory.They laughed at the Wright Bros. They laughed at Billy Mitchel. (Remember Pearl Harbor!) They laughed at Steve Jobs. (The PC put Control Data and Dec out of business). The top scientists of the world said that the atom would never be split. Soo–H2 is the next major power source–and Fuel Cells, powered by H2, will take over the world. Wanna bet agains that?
July 25, 2009 @ 9:08 pm
anon says...
1. Yes, fuel cells benefited the space program. But the space program is a cost-is-no-object application. Very telling that this is the only “counter argument” that you can come up with.2. It doesn’t matter that “thousands of Fuel Cells have been installed all over the world the past 10 years” when every single one of them was installed either (a) at a loss to the manufacturer, (b) with a taxpayer subsidy, or (c) both (a) and (b). The problem is not getting a fuel cell to work. The problem is getting the economics of fuel cells to work. No one has come anywhere close to demonstrating that FCs can compete economically with any incumbent technology.3. “Schools all over the country have had all sorts of Fuel Cell competitions and classes going on for over 10 years”. So what. This does not demonstrate economic feasibility. It only demonstrates good PR by NHA and USFCC and some clueless politicians.4. “The University of South Carolina has been a major player in the Fuel Cell program and Columbia S.C. is touting itself as an H2 Capital.” The operative word being “touting”. The entire S.C. “program” is nothing but a bunch of clueless politicians wasting taxpayer money.5. “It has been my personal experience the the majority of Government run school science teachers have no idea what a Fuel Cell is and have very little if any knowledge of power plant engineering.” So what? Why should science teachers waste time learning or teaching hopeless technology? 6. “The concept of the central power plant, that served us well for a hundred years, has been obseleted by technology and basically died with the ending of the 20th century.” What the heck are you talking about??????7. “They laughed at Bell and his toy. They laughed at Pasteur and his germ theory.They laughed at the Wright Bros. . .” This isn’t even an argument. “They” also laughed at plenty of things that proved to be deserving of laughter. “Soo–H2 is the next major power source–and Fuel Cells, powered by H2, will take over the world.” Because you say so? Please. I absolutely do want to bet against that, and have.For Bob Rose: In your EETV interview you said, “I think what’s perhaps missing from the analysis at the DOE is that you can’t get to our national energy goals and our national climate change goals without fuel cells and hydrogen.”This is just sheer nonsense. Where do you find the stones to say something like this??
July 29, 2009 @ 6:55 pm
Philip Block says...
Well, anon, I am tempted to make a remark that “where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” I don’t know why you have such a hatred for Fuel Cells, but it is quite obvious that you do and have a completely closed mind on the subject–or– you have some sort of agenda. You appear to have completely missed ALL the points I made. I don’t know, or care, what your background is, but it is obviously not in any engineering or scientific field. And that is a pity because those fields usually teach a person to have an open mind, which obviously you do not. But, I won’t give up on you. I will attempt to answer a couple of your comments and then leave it at that. 1.Yes, many ideas were laughed at because of many reasons and proved in time not usable, practical, whatever. Yet many that were laughed at or ignored came to life years later. When studying the atom, my chemistry teacher stated “the atom would never be split” (studying a useless science?). Two months later the atom bomb was dropped. Hero’s turbine took several thousand years to become a reality. Should his idea not have been taught in school? The basic Fuel Cell concept was established in 1839. Should it have been completely ignored forever? This is just one of thousands of examples that were developed in laboratories throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries that took time to germinate. 2. It took over 20 years for the automobile (1885-1908) to become a reality (along with the gas station). It took time for the PC to catch on–as with the internet. Most of the top people in the computer industry laughed at the PC. Some of them are out of business–via the PC. T.E. never made any real money with his power plants–it was the peripheral equipment that really made the money (Edison General Electric–now General Electric). His diode tube lay dormant (a useless science?) until the triode and the x-ray tube were developed from that science. 3.My statement that the central power plant is obselete would take another whole reply–soo– we will leave it at that and hope your imagination will answer the statement. If you would like an explanation, just ask.4. “Hopeless technology?” Who decides what is hopeless technology? YOU?