The Feds "Zero Out" Hydrogen Research

The once-bright luster of hydrogen and fuel cells seems to have dimmed recently, with the momentum shifting to plug-in battery vehicles. Hydrogen is still very expensive, despite talk of the “hydrogen highway” there are only 65 filling stations around the country, and costs haven’t come down enough on the cars themselves.

And now the shoe has dropped, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu saying yesterday that hydrogen research will be “zeroed out” in the 2010 federal budget (though there’s still $68 million specifically for fuel cells). Hydrogen got $168 million in 2009. “We asked ourselves, ‘Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?’ The answer, we felt, was ‘no’.”

President Obama has never shown great affection for fuel cells, unlike President Bush, who loved to be photographed with prototypes. Chu had earlier announced $41.9 million in hydrogen funding but, although the exact amount of the cuts are not known, that money may now be in jeopardy.

The early reactions were predictable. The boosters in the National Hydrogen Association and the U.S. Fuel Cell Council joined together in a statement: “The cuts proposed in the DOE hydrogen and fuel cell program threaten to disrupt commercialization of a family of technologies that are showing exceptional promise and beginning to gain market traction,” it said. “Fuel-cell vehicles are not a science experiment. These are real vehicles with real marketability and real benefits. Hundreds of fuel-cell vehicles have collectively logged millions of miles.”

Joseph Romm, a climate blogger, former DOE official and author of The Hype About Hydrogen, was jubilant. “For years now, I have been urging the Department of Energy to slash the bloated hydrogen budget and redirect the funds toward clean energy technology development and deployment programs that could actually achieve significant benefits for the American public in the foreseeable future. Well, finally, we have somebody running the Department of Energy [Chu] who gets how unproductive this whole effort has proven to be.”

Jim Motavalli photo