Washington May Revive Its Interest in Fuel Cells

Hydrogen fuel cell development pushed by President George W. Bush but shelved in favor of electric vehicles by President Barack Obama may be staging a comeback in Washington, says Bloomberg News.

The director of the California-based National Fuel Cell Research Center tells the news service "there's been a dramatic turnaround" in government support for the technology within the past nine months. This week two Obama aides suggested a role for fuel cells in the nation's effort to use less petroleum.

Proponents are eager for a shift in White House policy because several carmakers plan to begin retail sales of fuel cell-powered vehicles in the U.S. in about three years. Demand would be aided by government purchase incentives and funding to set up hydrogen refueling stations. The U.S. Dept. of Energy says there are only 56 such stations in the country now 23 of them in California.

The Bush administration launched the FreedomCar program in 2002 to support research and development of hydrogen technology. The White House proposed a year later to spend $1.7 billion over five years to develop hydrogen-powered cars and the infrastructure to fuel them. Fuel cell funding ended up totaling about $500 million during the Bush administration.

Support for the technology began to shrink significantly in 2009. That was when Energy Secretary Stephen Chu announced the Obama administration would shift focus to EVs, a technology thought to have a better chance to provide near-term energy savings.

Carmakers at a hydrogen conference in Washington, D.C., this week say fuel cell technology is already developed. But they note that a market for such systems can't develop without at least the beginnings of a hydrogen infrastructure. The National Fuel Cell Research Center says a hydrogen fueling station costs $500,000-$800,000 to install.

General Motors Co. tells Bloomberg that its plan to put 1,000 fuel cell vehicles on the road by 2010 was blocked by a lack of refueling stations. GM ended up building 100 hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox crossovers.

Toyota Motor Corp. says its planned rollout of hydrogen-powered cars in 2015 will depend on a sufficient number of hydrogen fuel sources by then. Daimler AG tells the news service that its Mercedes-Benz Cars unit has spent about $2 billion on fuel-cell research so far. The company predicts its first hydrogen-fueled cars for consumers will be priced well below $50,000.