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ENERGY SECRETARY Spencer Abraham made the announcement Wednesday at
the Detroit auto show, touting “the development of hydrogen as a primary
fuel for cars and trucks, as part of our effort to reduce American
dependence on foreign oil.” “The long-term results of this cooperative effort will be cars and trucks that are more efficient, cheaper to operate, pollution-free and competitive in the showroom,” he said. Like a battery, a fuel cell produces energy from a chemical reaction. With fuel cells, the reaction occurs when hydrogen is combined with oxygen. The only byproduct is water when straight hydrogen is used, but the process would require installing hydrogen filling pumps nationwide. As a result, automakers are also testing other fuels that contain hydrogen, like methanol and even gasoline. Those fuels would be easier from a distribution standpoint but the downside is that they would still pollute, albeit not nearly as much as an internal combustion engine. ‘PARTNERSHIP’ DEAD |
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Abraham was joined by auto executives in unveiling the new program,
called “Freedom Car.” It is expected to emerge as the Bush
administration’s response to critics who are calling for higher fuel
standards for gas-guzzling cars and sport utility vehicles. Automobile fuel economy is likely to be a major issue when the Senate takes up energy legislation next month. Democrats are calling for the government to require increased auto fuel efficiency, especially as it applies to the popular SUVs. Abraham and other senior Bush officials have expressed little enthusiasm for the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, an ambitious government-industry effort aimed at quadrupling automobile fuel economy by the middle of this decade. The department said the new fuel cell program would supersede the partnership program, which had pushed industry development of hybrid gasoline-electric cars. OTHER STEPS IN MEANTIME? Some environmentalists fear Abraham’s announcement will let U.S. automakers duck higher fuel-efficiency standards as well as the hybrid market, even though models by Toyota and Honda have sold well at around $20,000 each. “We have the technology to raise fuel economy standards now for the cars that Americans will buy in the next decade,” said David Hawkins, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Climate Center. “Doing that will save billions of barrels of oil while fuel cell vehicles are being developed.” John DeCicco, a senior fellow with Environmental Defense, feared a “smokescreen” effect. “It’s using legitimate future research needs to hide the fact the Japanese have beaten the pants off them for delivering the goods to the marketplace” with hybrid cars, he said. PARTNERSHIP GOALS The partnership program was begun in 1993 and championed by the Clinton administration — especially Vice President Al Gore. The joint venture with the Big Three domestic automakers was seen as a way to put family-size sedans that get 80 miles per gallon into showrooms by 2004. Using advanced aerodynamics, new engine technologies and lighter composite materials, the automakers in the program developed prototypes of vehicles capable of getting more than 70 miles per gallon, three times better fuel economy than most cars now on the road. But commercial development of large numbers of these cars in the next few years, as once envisioned, is not expected. Although Abraham supported the program as a senator from Michigan, shortly after he became energy secretary he said it had outlived its usefulness because the auto industry was going in a different direction. The administration proposed slashing funding for the program as part of its first budget a year ago. Nevertheless, Congress continued to keep it alive, even as some environmental groups and the watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense called the program an unnecessary subsidy for the car industry. INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUE Instead, the administration intends to focus on speeding up development of fuel cells, which could end the 100-year reign of the noisy and polluting internal combustion engine. Fuel cells can also be used as miniature power plants in homes and businesses. |
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That’s because while the cost of fuel cells has dropped sharply in recent years, the major remaining obstacle is creating a refueling infrastructure. Byron McCormick, GM’s executive director for fuel-cell activities, said the government can be a big help in setting an infrastructure direction. “The more certain we are about the infrastructure, the more aggressive we can be about the cars,” he said. “Bottom line: (the government is a) huge force in what we’re talking about.” .gif){kind=small}  MSNBC
environment coverage‘AUTONOMY’ UNVEILED GM, the world’s largest automaker, on Monday unveiled its own fuel-cell concept car at the Detroit auto show. GM said the Autonomy — which it says is the first vehicle designed exclusively for the fuel cell — houses all the essential elements of the car in a skateboard-like chassis between the four wheels and under the body and seats. The chassis could be fitted with a wide variety of bodies, such as a minivan interior for a family in the United States, or a pickup truck bed for hauling livestock in China, GM said. |
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| Similar in size to an engine
block, fuel cells use stacks of membranes that house the chemical reaction
that creates electricity to power a vehicle. |
 Because the Autonomy chassis has a 20-year lifespan, a growing family could change from a sporty sedan to a larger sport utility vehicle by switching the body, a far cheaper alternative to buying a new vehicle. Or if the vehicle needs more power, the fuel cell can be expanded. “This is more than just a technological or design experiment,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development and planning. “Our end goal is nothing short of reinventing the automobile.” A vehicle using the Autonomy chassis could look completely different from those on the road today. Because the gasoline-burning engine is gone and all the controls, such as steering and braking, are operated by electronic wires rather than mechanical connections, car designers are free to come up with new interpretations of cars and trucks. “From a design perspective ... almost all restraints are gone,” said Wayne Cherry, GM vice president of design. “No one ever said before, ‘Let’s take a clean sheet of paper and design around a fuel cell.’” Although fuel cells are more expensive than gasoline engines, the costs of owning a vehicle could be driven down by the flexibility of the Autonomy, the elimination of many mechanical parts and the long life-cycle of the vehicle, GM said.  GM sees fuel cell
future MSNBC.com’s Miguel Llanos as well as The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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MSNBC Interactive
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Transfer of Afghan prisoners starts
