Critics Question Intent of U.S. Hydrogen Initiative

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, November 20, 2003 (ENS) - U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and ministers from 14 nations and the European Commission today signed an agreement formally establishing the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy. Abraham says the initiative will help jumpstart an environmentally clean hydrogen economy, but critics contend that under the Bush administration's leadership, the program threatens to undermine the much heralded environmental promise of hydrogen.

At today's signing Abraham said the launch of the partnership "marks a significant advancement in countries from around the globe working together for a safe and environmentally benign hydrogen economy."

Representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Commission, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Russia, and the United Kingdom joined Abraham in signing the accord, which creates an international mechanism to coordinate hydrogen research, technology development and deployment.

The vision of the partnership, Abraham said, is that a participating country's consumers will have the practical option of purchasing a competitively priced hydrogen power vehicle, and be able to refuel it near their homes and places of work, by 2020.

President George W. Bush has earmarked some $1.7 billion to help develop hydrogen fuel cells for use in cars, laptops and cell phones. (Photo by Paul Morse courtesy the White House)

"The global transformation we envision is breathtaking in its scope," Abraham said.

There is little dispute that hydrogen has the potential to be the next great energy revolution. It can be easily produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, and when used for power, the only byproducts from hydrogen are water and heat.

But the key to the environmental friendliness of the hydrogen economy is how the fuel is produced - and this is where critics say the Bush administration has got it all wrong.

They believe the administration is keen to use fossil fuels and nuclear power to produce hydrogen, a policy that environmentalists say will lock the United States into a "black hydrogen" future.

"Getting hydrogen from dirty or unsafe sources makes no sense," said Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program. "It is like trying to lose weight by jogging to McDonalds."

Environmentalists say the administration should be encouraging "green hydrogen" - fuel made from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and biomass. Becker's organization, along with eight other environmental consumer and public policy organizations, this week announced the formation of The Green Hydrogen Coalition, which seeks to educate the public about green hydrogen and to encourage nations to embrace the concept.

The coalition includes Friends of the Earth, The Foundation on Economic Trends, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn.org, Public Citizen, the Sierra Club and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

Wind energy is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. clean, renewable energy sector. (Photo courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management(BLM))

In his speech today, Abraham said the goal of the Bush administration is "to make hydrogen from clean energy sources."

"But we must recognize that a diversity of sources for hydrogen is inevitable," the Energy Secretary said. "All over the planet people have different ideas about their hydrogen sources."

Abraham says these ideas range from natural gas - the source of most hydrogen produced today - to nuclear energy, coal and renewable sources.

"The United States intends to pursue and substantially fund research in all of the above areas, because we do not as yet know what the best answer is," Abraham said, ".... and because the best answer may be having a competitive marketplace for hydrogen production."

The Bush administration believes natural gas will be the initial source of hydrogen, but it is clearly eying coal and nuclear power as future sources.

More than $1 billion has been earmarked to develop "clean coal technologies" - such technologies could allow the production of green hydrogen from coal if a commercially effective way can be found to sequester carbon dioxide.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham says the new initiative is integral to transforming the transportation sector into one that runs on hydrogen. (Photo courtesy Energy Department)

"By using renewable energy, nuclear energy, and fossil energy, combined with carbon sequestration technologies, to produce our hydrogen, we can totally eliminate air emissions from our light duty transportation systems," Abraham said.

Critics are supportive of the goal, but skeptical of the administration's intent.

"The Bush plan could lock the global economy into the old energy regime for much of the 21st century, and deny the world the benefit of truly green hydrogen," says Katherine Morrison, senior staff attorney with PIRG.

Morrison and others say natural gas - because the supply is finite and it produces CO2 emissions - is not the long term answer. They contend coal production has other severe environmental impacts and many believe carbon sequestration is far from the silver bullet the White House predicts.

The concept of using nuclear power could be the worst of all, some critics say.

"It is both fiscally and environmentally irresponsible to use the most expensive, and potentially most lethal, energy source to develop hydrogen fuel," Morrison said.

And despite comments by Bush administration officials, their commitment to the renewable energy is a hollow one, says Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends.

Rifkin points out that the White House has refused to set benchmark targets for renewable energy, unlike the European Union, for example, which has committed to ensuring 22 percent of its electricity and 12 percent of its energy comes from renewable sources by 2010.

"As long as the White House is unresponsive to benchmarks and targets, all the talk about renewables is meaningless," said Rifkin. "The Bush administration unfortunately has highjacked hydrogen and is using it as a Trojan horse to bolster the interest of the fossil fuel and nuclear interests."

Environmentalists say nuclear power has no place in the hydrogen economy. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Emergency Management Agency)

The United States has incredible potential to develop renewables - in particular, wind and solar energy, says Kert Davies, research director of Greenpeace, USA, but it needs to invest in the technology.

He notes that a trillion dollars of subsidies have been given to support the nuclear industry since the 1950s, and the pending energy bill contains twice the subsidies for fossil fuel and nuclear compared to renewables.

"If we invest more money in the wrong forms of energy like nuclear and coal, we waste money towards a clean energy path," Davies said.