The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

From Alt Power Digest yesterday:

Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:16:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: Green Bean ( greenb3an@yahoo.com)
Subject: Schwarzenegger's plan for hydrogen fuel

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2003/09/23/MN310079.DTL

Schwarzenegger's plan for hydrogen fuel called
unrealistic
Big technological hurdles before emissions could be
cut

Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to cut air pollution by
50 percent within a decade -- mostly by urging drivers
to use hydrogen-powered vehicles -- was described as
unrealistic by environmentalists and scientists, even
as they praised him for promoting the new fuel cell
technology.

At an event Sunday near Santa Barbara, the leading
Republican in the Oct. 7 recall election pledged to
reduce air pollution by half in California by 2011. He
pledged to sign an executive order requiring hydrogen
fueling stations every 20 miles on interstates and
highways to encourage consumers to buy the
pollution-free vehicles.

But even supporters of fuel cells said daunting
technological hurdles associated with hydrogen-powered
cars -- combined with consumers' preference for
gas-guzzling vehicles -- mean that his pledge of
lowering emissions is probably pie-in-the-sky.

Daniel Sperling, an engineering professor and director
of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC
Davis, said the impact of hydrogen-powered vehicles on
emissions in the next few years is zero.

"In 10 years, it maybe will start to make a
difference," Sperling said. He noted that the
Department of Energy is starting a pilot project to
produce hydrogen-fueled cars, but no automaker has
plans for widespread commercial production.

"I'm an avid enthusiast of hydrogen, but hydrogen is a
long-term strategy. And if we are really concerned
about air quality and climate change and energy
conservation in the next 20 years, hydrogen is not the
answer."

Scientists have long believed that hydrogen, the most
abundant element, could be a relatively cheap and
mobile source of electricity to power vehicles,

with water vapor and heat as the only waste products.

But to become an effective fuel source, chains of
hydrocarbons must be "cracked" -- a process that is
both expensive and requires a great deal of energy.
Environmentalists worry that a switch to hydrogen fuel
cells could actually increase reliance on traditional,
polluting sources of electricity.

"Where will the hydrogen come from?" asked Bill
Magavern, legislative representative for the Sierra
Club, which opposes the recall and has endorsed a
Schwarzenegger rival, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, in the
replacement election.

"Under the Bush administration's proposal (for
hydrogen fuel cells), the hydrogen primarily comes
from nuclear and coal-fired power plants, which would
make it really dirty energy. Now if he's proposing
solar-powered hydrogen electricity, we'd be very
supportive of that. We'd like to see him answer that
question."

Schwarzenegger's campaign hasn't specified how the
fuel cells would be produced, although a spokesman
suggested that the market, rather than the government,
should determine how to make fuel cells most cheaply.

Critics also question whether Schwarzenegger would
provide enough money to build fueling stations across
the state. There are just a handful of hydrogen
fueling stations around the state, including one at
the AC Transit bus yard in Richmond. Schwarzenegger
has proposed $60 million for the task, but also would
ask the federal government and corporations to
contribute.

Schwarzenegger appears to be taking a page out of
President Bush's environmental playbook. In his State
of the Union speech in January, Bush pledged to speed
the push to a hydrogen economy by spending as much as
$1.2 billion for a "Freedom Car" initiative to develop
zero-emissions vehicles.

Sperling said that Schwarzenegger, like Bush, had
found that hydrogen fuel cells are a more palatable
way to address air pollution than calling for stricter
fuel efficiency or tailpipe emissions standards. Gov.
Gray Davis, for example, angered automakers last year
by signing a bill making California the first state to
limit tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases.

"There are no natural political or economic enemies to
hydrogen and there are plenty of supporters and
enthusiasts," Sperling said. "The environmentalists
can't complain directly. The car industry kind of
likes fuel cells. The oil industry is ambivalent about
hydrogen. So, as a politician, what's there not to
like?"

There are other concerns with hydrogen. Scientists are
still struggling to devise a safe and efficient way to
store the hydrogen. If stored as a gas in
high-pressure tanks, it could pose a safety risk.

But supporters of the actor say Schwarzenegger should
be praised for promoting the new technology, even if
it doesn't meet the ambitious targets he has set for
emissions reductions.

"This is the sort of thing that Republican candidates
should be saying as a matter of course," said Jim
DiPeso, policy director of REP America, a grassroots
group that backs environmentally oriented Republicans.

"One of the things you often hear about hydrogen is
that it's decades away. Well, it can be decades away
if we want it to be decades away," he said. "With some
concerted effort and intelligent policies that combine
developing fuel cells and transportation and
stationary (fuel cell) sources, we can have a hydrogen
economy much sooner."

E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.


=====
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

All-Energy News and Discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/All-Energy

¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø