[sustran] news item: fuel cell in USA

Craig Townsend townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au
Thu Jan 10 11:50:51 JST 2002


 From the Vancouver Sun online edition, Wednesday, January 09, 2002

Full article available at 
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id={FA2891C8-E7F5-494D-BAAB-48B4ADC82ABA}

Ballard rises on U.S. fuel-cell plan: Energy department will focus on 
hydrogen-powered technology for autos

Stock at Burnaby-based Ballard Power Systems jumped 14 per cent Tuesday 
after the U.S. energy department announced it would focus on developing 
hydrogen-powered fuel cells for the automobile industry.
......
The announcement is a recognition from the U.S. government of the growing 
importance of fuel cells, Ballard vice-president Paul Lancaster said.

"U.S. energy security has always been a large issue for them and it's even 
more so after the recent world events," he said Tuesday. "This is a 
definite help in accelerating developing fuel cells infrastructure."
.....
Ballard expects to be manufacturing 300,000 fuel cells annually for 
automobile engines by 2005.

U.S. energy department officials said they plan to spend more money on 
developing hydrogen-powered fuel cells because the technology is needed to 
reduce dependence on foreign oil. About 55 per cent of the oil the U.S. 
consumes is from other countries.
"The use of hydrogen -- if realized -- offers the possibility of completely 
clean energy," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in October. He'll 
provide details of the program today at the North American International 
Auto Show in Detroit.

Abraham said in April he planned to change the program begun by the Clinton 
administration. The Partnership for a New Generation Vehicle is a 
collaboration among federal agencies, Ford, General Motors and 
DaimlerChrysler to develop a car with triple the fuel efficiency of a 1994 
model by 2004.

A U.S. National Academy of Sciences report in August agreed the program 
should be re-examined, saying "no reasonable amount of funding" would 
result in the production of a marketable, affordable 80-mpg sedan by 2004.

David Doniger of the U.S. Natural Resources Defence Council said he and 
other environmentalists support hydrogen fuel cells because they are 
cleaner than conventional energy sources.

The cost of fuel cells currently is prohibitively high for commercial use 
though, with widespread applications still years away.
Any effort to focus government and industry efforts on hydrogen 
technologies should include production commitments from automakers, Doniger 
said.

Auto makers already are spending billions of dollars to develop fuel cells 
as a cleaner alternative to internal-combustion engines to meet tougher 
pollution rules. For example, General Motors, the largest auto maker, is 
sharing research with ChevronTexaco Corp. on how to use gasoline as a 
source of hydrogen for powering fuel cells.

The auto industry is looking for government assurances that infrastructure 
-- possibly hydrogen filling stations -- will be available to serve the 
vehicles they're developing.
........
________________________________________________

Craig Townsend
Institute for Sustainability & Technology Policy
Murdoch University
South Street, Murdoch
Perth, Western Australia 6150

tel: (61 8) 9360 6278
fax: (61 8) 9360 6421
email: townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au
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