Posted on 9-1-2002
US
Govt Dumps Fuel Efficiency For Fuel Cells
DETROIT, Michigan, January 9, 2002 (ENS) - The federal government
is
changing its emphasis regarding developing cleaner vehicles,
shifting from
high fuel economy cars to hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles.
Addressing an audience of auto industry executives, reporters
and the
public at the Detroit Auto Show, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
today
announced a new cooperative automotive research partnership
between the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Council for Automotive
Research (USCAR).
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said "I am pleased to announce
a new
public private partnership between my department and the nation's
automobile manufacturers to promote the development of hydrogen
as a
primary fuel for cars and trucks," Abraham said, noting that
hydrogen
powered vehicles would help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign
oil. "Under
this new program, which we call Freedom CAR, the government
and the private
sector will fund research into advanced, efficient fuel cell
technology
which uses hydrogen to power automobiles without creating any
pollution,"
explained Abraham. "The long term results of his cooperative
effort will be
cars and trucks that are more efficient, cheaper to operate,
pollution free
and competitive in the showroom."
The Freedom CAR - CAR stands for Cooperative Automotive Research
- project
is intended to replace the Partnership for a New Generation
of Vehicles
(PNGV) program, launched by the Clinton administration to promote
the
development of high fuel efficiency vehicles. Gasoline powered
2002 Nissan
Altima won car of the year at the North American International
Auto Show.
In March, 2000, America's Big Three automakers - General Motors,
Ford Motor
Company and Daimler Chrysler Corporation - unveiled concept
cars which
achieved close to 80 miles per gallon of gasoline using hybrid
gasoline-electric engines. The vehicles met some of the goals
of the PNGV,
but were still years away from commercial production.
Secretary Abraham said that Freedom CAR will focus on the research
needed
to develop technologies such as fuel cells and hydrogen from
domestic
renewable sources. The program's long term goal is to develop
technologies
for hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles that will require no
foreign oil
and emit no harmful pollutants or greenhouse gases. The transition
of
vehicles from gasoline to hydrogen is viewed as critical both
to reducing
carbon dioxide emissions and to reducing U.S. reliance on foreign
oil, the
DOE says. America's transportation sector is 95 percent dependent
on
petroleum, with transportation consuming 67 percent of the petroleum
used
in the U.S. "Freedom CAR isn't an automobile, it's a new approach
to
powering the cars of the future," said Abraham. "It will be
a big win for
everyone - for consumers, for auto workers, for the environment
and for our
nation's energy security."
Freedom CAR will require a significant financial investment
by both the
federal government and the auto industry, and will involve a
concerted long
term effort. A formal partnership agreement is expected within
the next
few months.
David Hawkins, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's
Climate
Center, said the program "is
pointed in the right direction, but by itself it's going nowhere."
Noting
that it is expected to take at least 10 years to bring a fuel
cell powered
car to market, during which time Americans will buy about 150
million
vehicles, Hawkins warned that the U.S. "can't afford another
research
program that just gives billions of dollars in subsidies to
the automobile
industry with no commitment from them to actually produce advanced
vehicles
for consumers to buy." "We have the technology to raise fuel
economy
standards now for the cars that Americans will buy in the next
decade,"
added Hawkins. "Doing that will save billions of barrels of
oil while fuel
cell vehicles are being developed."
Earlier this week, the conservation group Environmental Defense
released a
comprehensive study of fuel cell vehicles published by the Society
of
Automotive Engineers (SAE), detailing the hurdles to be crossed
before fuel
cell vehicles can see market success. "Compared to other long
run options,
fuel cells hold great promise to address multiple concerns,
including air
pollution, oil dependence, and global warming, while efficiently
meeting
car customers' growing needs for on board electricity," said
John DeCicco,
a senior fellow with Environmental Defense. But the study found
that the
absence of market wide requirements for higher fuel economy
blocks progress
on many vehicle technologies, including fuel cells.
Several auto makers have committed to putting fuel cell vehicles
on the
road by 2005. But the report identifies a "deployability gap"
of another 10
to 15 years before a business case can be made for mass market
fuel cell
cars. "Closing this gap entails speeding up progress along several
challenging technical pathways," said DeCicco.
At the Detroit Auto Show's media preview on Monday, General
Motors unveiled
its newest concept car - the AUTOnomy, a car powered by a hydrogen
fed fuel
cell. GM says the AUTOnomy could achieve the fuel efficiency
equivalent of
more than 100 miles per gallon, while producing no emissions
other than
plain water.
The automaker is seeking 24 patents related to the AUTOnomy,
and hopes to
have a working test model of the car by the end of the year.
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