Fuel-Cell Car Demonstration Gives San Francisco Students Glimpse of Future Hydrogen Economy

2/20/2004

From: Tom Welch of the Energy Department, 202-586-5806

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20 -- A top U.S. Department of Energy official gave middle school students a glimpse into the future Friday by demonstrating hydrogen fuel technologies designed to reduce pollution and help ease America's dependence on foreign oil.

"There will be many different avenues for you who will be working in the hydrogen economy," Theresa Alvillar-Speake, director of the Energy Department's Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, told science students at Everett Middle School in San Francisco.

"We believe the cars of the future will run on hydrogen instead of gasoline," she said. "The transition to this new, cleaner form of energy depends on new technologies -- which will be developed in the coming years by young people who are in school today."

Speake said she welcomed the opportunity to teach a bi-lingual science class that "reflects the richness of cultures that define America today."

Speake leads the Energy Department's Economic Impact and Diversity Office and is responsible for ensuring equal opportunity for the Department's employees and is committed to diversification and equal opportunity in the work place. She is responsible for implementing the President's Small Business Initiatives and to ensure broad participation in the hydrogen fuel initiative and other government programs.

Demonstrating a hydrogen-powered model car, a number of which the Energy Department donated to the school, Speake explained that the hydrogen fuel cell process can produce electricity to operate cars and other vehicles and devices with no pollution.

"The only by-product is pure water," she said, explaining that fuel-cell technology emits none of the pollution or greenhouse gases produced by gasoline and other fossil fuels.

President Bush has proposed $1.7 billion over five years in research funding for the FreedomCAR and the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, to enable America to lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles that would help free the United States from dependence on foreign petroleum. This education effort -- which includes similar visits by Energy Department officials to schools around the nation -- supports President Bush's initiative. For more information on the FreedomCAR partnership and the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative please visit: http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenfuel/