Hydrogen cars: The future, or diversion from oil woes?

After drawing wide attention to the potentials of hydrogen as a fuel in his State of the Union Address, Bush on Thursday urged Congress to approve his $1.5 billion hydrogen development proposals as 'a legacy' for future generations.

'I don't know if you or I are going to be driving one of these cars, but our grandkids will. And we can say we did our duty (and) proposed some initiatives,' Bush told hydrogen industry leaders who had come to Washington to show off their latest technology.

Bush wants to double federal research money for developing hydrogen as fuel and to help automakers resolve some of the remaining barriers to building affordable cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

But on Capitol Hill, some Democrats, including several who are running for president, called Bush's hydrogen agenda 'a smoke screen' to divert attention away from the controversies of drilling in environmentally sensitive areas in Alaska or requiring more fuel efficient automobiles today.

Bush's initiative brought widespread applause from automakers and executives of companies trying to make hydrogen the fuel of the future, eventually replacing fossil fuels such as coal and oil to run power stations and automobiles.

Industry executives -- from automobile manufacturers and fuel cell developers to hydrogen fuel distribution companies and oil companies -- agree on the immense potential for hydrogen as the fuel of the future. It can come from a variety of source including natural gas.

'This isn't a theory. It's not a petri dish,' said James Press, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. 'It's a technology which is not here yet, but we can see it.'

Toyota has two hydrogen-powered cars being tested in routine daily traffic in California and will add four more vehicles to that program this year, said Press. Last year, DaimlerChrysler reached a milestone when its latest hydrogen fuel cell car traveled across the United States. General Motors, Ford, Nissan and Honda are also testing fuel cell cars on the roads.

These auto executives hope to have affordable cars, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, in showrooms in a decade, a timetable more optimistic than the one outlined by Bush.

But difficult barriers to a hydrogen energy system remain.

l The costs of fuel cell power systems are still way too high. A fuel cell system now costs 10 times as much as one powered by the internal combustion engine. Once systems are mass produced, they will become cheaper, industry experts say.

l A hydrogen distribution system has yet to be developed. 'There'd be nothing worse than developing a car and having no place for somebody to find the fuel,' Bush said. More federal research funds are aimed at spurring development of a hydrogen infrastructure.

l While many companies are testing fuel cells, questions have yet to be answered about their durability. Will they stand up over 100,000 miles? What effect will cold weather and higher altitudes have on the systems?<