hearing summary

House Committee on Science Holds Joint Hearing on the Status and Future of the Hydrogen Economy

by Patrick Meyer

The House Committee on Science held a joint hearing on 20 July entitled “Fueling the Future: On the Road to the Hydrogen Economy.” Attended by the Energy and Research Subcommittees, the hearing examined hydrogen research progress since the launch of the President’s 2003 Hydrogen Initiative.

In his 2003 State of the Union speech, President Bush announced the creation of a new Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The initiative aims to provide the technology for a hydrogen-based transportation economy, including production, transportation and distribution of hydrogen, and the vehicles that will use the hydrogen. The question remains, however, whether or not the initiative has been successful in the past two years at facilitating hydrogen technology development.

The hearing witnesses attempted to answer this question. Douglas Faulkner, Assistant Secretary of Energy at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, insisted that the Hydrogen Initiative has, in fact, been widely successful. Among the many accomplishments since 2003 are the considerable feedback from the National Academy of Sciences and the DOE’s Basic Sciences Workshop. These and other organizations have tackled 65 projects on hydrogen production and delivery to further the commitment to hydrogen commercialization by the year 2015. The have outlined and implemented detailed research plans to help meet the goal of a $2-3 gasoline equivalent within the same time frame. Faulkner pointed out that the Initiative has assisted in creating many high-technology jobs and in compiling extensive data sets that can be used for policy decisions.

David Bodde, director of the International Center for Automotive Research Innovation and Public Policy program at Clemson University, confronted some of the market barriers facing the Initiative. He argued that the transition to hydrogen is a competitive transition — fuel cell vehicles have to compete not only with current internal combustion engine vehicles, but also with emerging hybrid-electric vehicles. Because the transition will be a 50-year struggle, at one point all three technologies will coexist in the marketplace — an extremely competitive market. He insisted that efficient government policies will be necessary to accelerate the transition from conventional vehicles to hybrids and, finally, to the hydrogen economy.

Mark Chernoby, Vice President of the Advanced Vehicle Engineering program at DaimlerChrysler Corporation, explained the three stages of the hydrogen economy’s development. The first and current stage is the “market preparation stage,” during which we build infrastructure and get a number of vehicles on the road that are fit for daily use. Chernoby called this a regional stage, because early vehicles will be implemented only in limited environments (for example, some current vehicles have problems running in cold environments). The second stage is the “ramp-up stage,” during which we must overcome technological barriers and add larger fleets of vehicles along with the infrastructure to support those vehicles. The third stage is the “commercialization stage.” During the final stage, all barriers must be overcome — including cost barriers to the consumer. Despite significant progress, we are still in stage one of this process.

John Heywood, director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pointed to the growing sense of urgency to reduce nationwide petroleum consumption. “We need to reinforce that [urgency] broadly through the government by developing a range of strategies to raise the importance of vehicle fuel consumption in the marketplace so buyers and users are aware of what fuel consumption costs them and the nation more broadly.” Heywood asserted that Americans must be willing to give up their “living-room-on-wheels” and accept a much smaller room, with much smaller furniture in it, to create a lighter, more efficient vehicle.

Overall, the witnesses shared consensus that the hydrogen program today is extensive and well organized. As a result of the President’s Initiative, the program interacts strongly with the automotive industry, facilitating development and investment. Additionally, the DOE is doing an excellent job at executing a strong strategic plan and meeting concrete milestones. Although the “hydrogen economy” may be decades from full implementation, the nation is taking significant steps toward ensuring its full development.

IEEE-USA has long been a supporter of alternative energy and advanced fuel development, and has played a vital role in promoting the “hydrogen economy.” On 17 March, IEEE-USA and the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) hosted a forum on Capitol Hill at which representatives of Congress, industry and environmental organizations laid out a strategy for reducing dependency on foreign oil, and stressed the need for the United States to proactively ensure energy independence. At the forum, Paul Werbos, program director of the National Science Foundation, and a member of IEEE-USA's Energy Policy Committee, advocated the further development of alternative fuel vehicles, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, stating that “clearly we need to take very strong action” to address energy independence. He argued that it has become “a matter of life and death.” IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee members agree that development of advanced transportation fuels is a vital step in ensuring American technological leadership, promoting environmental preservation, and rejuvenating the American economy.

The President’s Hydrogen Initiative has been successful over the past two years and is now in full swing. The future of the hydrogen economy looks promising — but we must understand that there is extensive work to be completed over very long time periods to ensure the full development of hydrogen technologies.

Earlier this month, the House of Representative’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus hosted its “End Dependence Day” event — a notable step in the right direction to developing the hydrogen economy. For more information on this event, visit www.ieeeusa.org/policy/features/endependence.asp.

Patrick Meyer holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Energy Policy from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He is currently working as a summer 2005 intern with IEEE-USA's Energy Policy Committee.  As part of the internship, he will be attending all energy-, electricity-, and resource-related hearings on Capitol Hill and will provide summaries of each hearing on the IEEE-USA Web site. Patrick will be returning to RIT in September to obtain his Masters of Science in Science, Technology and Public Policy. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.