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

12/8/2003

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

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 8 -- A top U.S. Department of Energy official gave high school students a glimpse into the future Monday by demonstrating hydrogen fuel technologies designed to reduce pollution and end America's dependence on foreign oil.

"Instead of burning gasoline, the cars of tomorrow will operate on hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe," William Magwood, director of the Energy Department's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, told students at Perry Traditional High School in Pittsburgh.

Magwood, who is a Pittsburgh-native and graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, leads the Department's nuclear energy program and is responsible for the government's research aimed at developing clean and efficient nuclear energy technologies to produce hydrogen for future automobiles and other uses.

Demonstrating a hydrogen-powered model car, Magwood 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," he said, explaining that fuel-cell technology could someday replace the gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines that power the cars and trucks of today. "No gasoline means no imported oil and no problems with pollution or greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles."

"Investing in our students today will help ensure the transformation of our energy future from one dependent on foreign petroleum to one based on hydrogen," Magwood said. "It's important that we begin to prepare and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers who will lead the transition to a hydrogen-based economy and build the machines and infrastructure that will make it a reality."

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 free the U.S. 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.