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DOE and Automakers Develop Hydrogen Economy of the Future
Against a backdrop of futuristic vehicles at the Detroit auto Show, Secretary
of Energy Spencer Abraham and executives of Ford, General Motors and Daimler-Chrysler
announced a new cooperative automotive research partnership between the U.S.
Department of Energy and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR).
"In keeping with the President's National Energy Plan, I am pleased
to announce a new public-private partnership between my department and the nation's
automobile manufacturers to promote the development of hydrogen as a primary
fuel for cars and trucks, as part of our effort to reduce American dependence
on foreign oil," Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said.
"Under this new program, which we call Freedom CAR, the government and
the private sector will fund research into advanced, efficient fuel cell technology
which uses hydrogen to power automobiles without creating any pollution. The
long-term results of this cooperative effort will be cars and trucks that are
more efficient, cheaper to operate, pollution-free and competitive in the showroom.
This plan is rooted in President Bush's call, issued last May in our National
Energy Plan, to reduce American reliance on foreign oil through a balance of
new domestic energy production and new technology to promote greater energy
efficiency," Abraham said.
America's transportation sector is 95 percent dependent on petroleum, with
transportation consuming 67 percent of the petroleum used in the U.S. The Federal
government and its industry partners recognize the steady growth of imported
oil needed to meet U.S. requirements ? today about 10 million barrels of
foreign oil each day ? cannot continue.
Altering the overall U.S. petroleum consumption pattern will require a multi-tiered
approach, including policy and research programs. Freedom CAR's (CAR stands
for Cooperative Automotive Research) long-term goal is to develop technologies
for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles that will require no foreign oil and
emit no harmful pollutants or greenhouse gases.
Freedom CAR isn't an automobile, it's a new approach to powering the
cars of the future. The C-A-R in Freedom CAR stands for Cooperative Automotive
Research and it will be a big win for everyone ? for consumers, for auto
workers, for the environment and for our nation's energy security.
Freedom CAR will focus on the research needed to develop technologies such as
fuel cells and hydrogen from domestic renewable sources. It replaces and greatly
improves upon the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program.
The transition of vehicles from gasoline to hydrogen is viewed as critical both
to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and to reducing U.S. reliance on foreign
oil.
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