INEEL researchers try to help lessen our dependence on oil

Jim Francfort of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has a job many would envy.

Troy Maben / The Associated Press

He tests America´s future vehicles, from tiny, bubble-shaped electric carts to fleets of city buses cruising on clean hydrogen gas.

He´s trying to perfect cars and trucks that do not need gasoline or diesel exclusively for power and do not choke the air with exhaust. Instead, they will employ hydrogen from fuel cells, batteries, natural gas, conventional fuel or a combination of them.

Francfort figures his research may help end the country´s perilous reliance on oil, which he says is a big reason the nation is embroiled in the Mideast.

“I´m speaking as the father of an 8-year-old girl,” he said. “Our dependence on oil ties in with our national security and terrorism. Oil will prove to be finite in someone´s lifetime.”

The Bush administration wants the next generation of vehicles to be powered by fuel cells. The cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water. The current powers the car.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced the FreedomCAR initiative to speed the production of these hydrogen-fueled vehicles. The administration proposed $1.7 billion in funding for the FreedomCAR program over the next five years.

The CAR in FreedomCAR is Cooperative Automotive Research. The test-drives are being done by Francfort´s federal Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity office and the automobile industry.

The public is demanding a car that emits no pollution, has a long range, is easy to recharge or refill and has the speed of an internal combustion engine, he said.

That is where the political battle is being waged.

GM created electric-powered EV1s, touting them as being able to outrace a Mazda Miata sports car. But California, which has the toughest emission rules in the nation, is retreating from those pollution guidelines.

So, the Big Three automakers have all abandoned their electric-battery vehicles and are focusing instead on low-polluting hybrids and fuel cells. GM this month delivered six fuel-cell vehicles to Capitol Hill for lawmakers to drive — and to lobby for the technology. The six HydroGen3 prototypes cost about $1 million each. Some environmental groups have criticized GM´s fuel cell demonstration as designed to distract lawmakers´ attention from problems like the low fuel efficiency of many current cars and trucks.

“We oppose FreedomCAR,” said Eric Pica, Friends of the Earth policy analyst. “It lacks any types of benchmarks. Fuel cells are seen as the Holy Grail for oil independence, but they´re used as an excuse to avoid any efficiencies now.”

Pica said the government should stop subsidizing the auto companies as they create new technology. He also warns the administration may push for nuclear reactors or coal-fired plants to refine pure hydrogen for the vehicles.

While the public is looking for that be-all hydrogen car, Francfort figures government and commercial fleets are currently winning the alternative fuel war. He crisscrosses the nation to consult with them.

That allows the Energy Department to share costs and document how far their fleets can go.

The research includes:

• Construction of a hydrogen and compressed-natural gas generation and fueling station in Phoenix. The researchers are studying the performance of trucks running on hydrogen, natural gas or blends.

• Evaluation of diesel-electric hybrid buses for the New York City Transit Authority and state-of-the-art buses in California running on fuel cells.

• Hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles. They already are available in the form of the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius. Advanced Vehicle Testing is putting long miles on the hybrids in Arizona. After driving them as much as 100,000 miles, they will be sold. But researchers will continue to document their performance after the new owners get the keys.

• Urban electric vehicles. These are small versions of personal vehicles and can reach about 70 mph. They are being tested for such roles as carrying East Coast executives from their homes to the commuter train and back.

• Neighborhood electric vehicles. The bubble-shaped craft resemble golf cars with a top speed of about 25 mph. About 340 were tested. They covered 1.2 million emission-free miles and saved 29,000 gallons of gas.

They are ideal for places like air bases, airports or national park facilities where employees must get around fairly quickly on improved road surfaces, Francfort said.

“They provide a tremendous petroleum savings. You currently have these V-8 pickups on military bases that are getting 8-10 miles a gallon,” he said. The INEEL is improving the batteries that run the new breed of cars. Francfort also said the nation´s semi trucks consume 800 million gallons of diesel a year idling during the winter. Researchers are working on a small heater which consumes far less diesel but keeps the truck engines warm.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/Business/story.asp?ID=40454