[Environment Report]:Freedom Fuel Proposal


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Environment Report.

President Bush has offered a plan to speed development oftechnology that uses hydrogen as fuel. His goal is increasedproduction of vehicles, homes and businesses powered by hydrogenfuel cells.

Mister Bush says he hopes that children born this year will drivehydrogen-powered cars in the future. He says his plan would reducepollution and America's dependence on oil from other countries. Yetexperts say the plan would be successful only if major cost andtechnology problems can be solved.

The President announced the plan in his State of the Unionmessage in January. He wants Congress to approve more thanone-thousand-million dollars for the program. That would includemoney to develop the systems needed to make, store and transporthydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electric powerproduction.

Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. Hydrogen isa colorless gas. On Earth, it is present in large amounts in naturalgas, coal, plants and water. By weight, hydrogen produces thehighest energy levels of any known fuel. When burned in an engine,hydrogen releases no harmful pollution into the environment. Whenpowering a fuel cell, the only waste is water. However, hydrogen isdifficult to store. It also burns easily.

The American space agency has used fuel cells to produceelectricity since the nineteen-sixties. More recently, someautomobile makers have tested hydrogen-powered vehicles. However,hydrogen is four times as costly to produce as gasoline, the fuelcommonly used in cars and trucks. In addition, fuel cells are nowten times more costly than traditional gasoline-burning engines.

The President's plan seeks to lower that cost enough to make fuelcell cars cost almost the same as gasoline-powered vehicles bytwo-thousand-ten. The plan also would support methods to producehydrogen from renewable energy, nuclear energy and coal.

Fuel cell research and development businesses welcomed thePresident's proposal. Environmental groups also have praised theplan. They say hydrogen technology can reduce industrial gaseslinked to global warming. However, some critics say the plan is away to avoid criticism over Bush administration policies designed tosupport oil production.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by GeorgeGrow.

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