Fuel Cell Vehicles, Rethinking

July 13, 2003 – Vol.8 No.16

FUEL CELL VEHICLES - RETHINKING.

Scientists David Keith and Alexander Farrell don’t think hydrogen fueled cars are a good idea now, or perhaps ever.

The authors of an article in the journal Science - Environmental Science Enhanced: Rethinking Hydrogen Cars - think that there are cheaper, faster ways to achieve the same goal of emissions reductions and energy independence without hydrogen. To begin with, government could step in and raise fuel efficiency and pollution standards, forcing the automakers to fully commercialize technologies, such as hybrids, that can offer the same benefits as hydrogen fuel cells, at a fraction of the cost.

The authors, from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, Berkeley respectively, think the whole idea of hydrogen cars should be fully examined before spending billions - much of it tax-payer dollars - on the effort. Visit Science at http://www.sciencemag.com/