Sounds like the future, at least in the short term for the big ships and locomotives that can fuel in large central ports, rather than the vast array of service stations indicating a technology able to serve the nations automobiles, which looks to be a very long way into the future.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development still in the slow lane
By Jim Downing - jdowning@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, March 11, 2008
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched the state's Hydrogen Highway in 2004, he said Californians were about to invent the future.
We're still working on it.
Boosted by $1.2 billion in federal money over the past five years, automakers have been making strides with hydrogen fuel cells. Building filling stations for those vehicles, however, is another matter – what a top Bush administration transportation official refers to as the equivalent of a moon shot.
So on Monday, about 40 automotive and air quality experts from around the country sat down at the California Fuel Cell Partnership headquarters in West Sacramento to brainstorm how to foster a national hydrogen-fueling network. The partnership is a collaboration of 32 organizations, including automakers, government agencies and energy and oil companies. It was created in 1999, and the West Sacramento headquarters opened in November 2000.
"The research is largely complete. What we need to do is focus on the infrastructure piece," said Paul Brubaker, who heads the Research and Innovative Technology Administration for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Hydrogen is attractive as an auto fuel because it promises both the pump-and-go convenience of gasoline and no emissions of either greenhouse gases or smog-forming pollutants.
In a fuel-cell vehicle, hydrogen combines with oxygen, yielding a current that drives an electric motor. The tailpipe spews nothing but water vapor and heat.
