Obama Cancels Hydrogen Car Fund
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama has scrapped the $1.2 Billion development fund for a fuel cell-powered car that was a brainchild of the previous Bush Administration. The issue of fuel cells has been a contentious one, with many believing the technology is of dubious benefit when battery-electric cars offer a far simpler solution. The USA’s newly-minted President agrees, and last Thursday scrapped the fuel cell funding plan set up by former President George W. Bush in 2003.
Instead, President Obama plans to spend just US$68.2 million on fuel cell research – less than half the amount spent last year. With Bush’s US$1.2 billion plan in the bin, a further US$100 million will be saved each year. In contrast, the Bush administration spent a total of $500 million in automotive fuel cell research, with limited results and no prospect of wide-scale adoption of the technology in the near future.
Battery-electrics are the new darling of the Obama administration, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu saying the government wanted to target more “immediate energy-saving solutions”.
(Source) The Motor Report
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