DOE Announces $52.5 Million for Basic Hydrogen Research

Work to help meet challenges of hydrogen production, use, storage

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman April 6 announced a forthcoming three-year, $52.5 million solicitation to support new innovations in hydrogen technology.

The solicitation, to be released later in April, supports President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative - which seeks to reduce dependence on foreign oil - and will support research to help overcome the scientific challenges associated with hydrogen production, use and storage.

Bodman made the announcement while speaking to a meeting of the Society for Automotive Engineers in Detroit, according to a DOE press release.

"This investment in basic research is designed to spur new innovation and breakthroughs that will help us build a hydrogen-based economy," Bodman said. "I believe this will help us overcome technical barriers and bring hydrogen and fuel cell technology one step closer to the showroom."

The solicitation will target challenges that crosscut hydrogen storage, production and use identified in the DOE report, Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy.

The areas for research will include novel hydrogen storage materials, catalysts and membranes. It also will create new information to expand on existing DOE basic research and provide the longer-term knowledge needed to move toward a hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen is at the center of the nation's long-term strategy for energy independence and reducing pollutants and greenhouse gases, but Bodman also discussed nearer-term technologies for reducing foreign oil dependence.

He urged all automakers to produce vehicles that run on clean-burning E-85 fuel - a mixture of 85 percent renewable ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. He also announced that DOE will solicit proposals for public-private partnerships to make E-85 more widely available.

Bodman also asked automakers to expand their hybrid-electric vehicle lines and announced that DOE is requesting more funding for advanced batteries to expand the all-electric, zero-emission range and fuel economy of these vehicles.

The Energy Department report (PDF, 178 pages) on basic research needs is available on the department's Web site.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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