Hydrogen fuel technologies are one of the areas of focus in recent alternative f ...

Hydrogen fuel technologies are one of the areas of focus in recent alternative fuels initiatives in the US. The Bush Administration has completed a number of high-level hydrogen industrial road mapping sessions at the US Department of Energy and has launched a hydrogen-fuelled ‘Freedom Car’ programme. Meanwhile, Senator Hillary Rodman Clinton has just secured funding out of the Department of Defense appropriations on behalf of General Motor’s delivery of the first hydrogen fuel cell truck to the US Army. Hydrogen fuel technologies are currently being developed for automobiles, with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger leading the way with his hydrogen-powered Hummer vehicle. In some areas of the US, commercial buildings have been modified to use hydrogen power plants, and hydrogen power units are producing electricity in various other commercial applications such as research labs and computer power backup units. Following on from these developments, Energy Ventures Organization reports that it has acquired funding for advancement in various research and development technology projects. ‘We are going to educate the public first, the new hydrogen economy will soon be here,’ stated President and Director of Energy Ventures Organization, Conrad Vergara. ‘We will become a leader in common home and residential “zero pollution energy solutions” (ZPES). Hydrogen is the most simple and common element in the universe. Although never found naturally in pure form, it can be produced from a host of available resources, including water, natural gas, coal biomass, municipal solid waste, or scrap tyres.’ Energy Ventures Organization has developed a hydrogen producing prototype and now, with the collaboration of Apollo Alternative Fuels Company and its existing technology, will focus on continued R&D to produce an up-scaled unit that will provide the daily energy requirements to power a standard household on a daily basis along with enough fuel to operate the family automobile.