THE PATH TO A HYDROGEN ECONOMY HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MARCH 5, 2003 Serial No. 108–4 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/science U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85–417PS WASHINGTON : 2004 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:58 Feb 15, 2004 Jkt 085417 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\WORKD\FULL03\030503\85417 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York, Chairman LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas RALPH M. HALL, Texas CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania BART GORDON, Tennessee DANA ROHRABACHER, California JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois JOE BARTON, Texas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas KEN CALVERT, California LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California NICK SMITH, Michigan NICK LAMPSON, Texas ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan MARK UDALL, Colorado GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota DAVID WU, Oregon GEORGE R. NETHERCUTT, JR., MICHAEL M. HONDA, California Washington CHRIS BELL, Texas FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma BRAD MILLER, North Carolina JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas W. TODD AKIN, Missouri ZOE LOFGREN, California TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois BRAD SHERMAN, California MELISSA A. HART, Pennsylvania BRIAN BAIRD, Washington JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma DENNIS MOORE, Kansas J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York PHIL GINGREY, Georgia JIM MATHESON, Utah ROB BISHOP, Utah DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas VACANCY JO BONNER, Alabama TOM FEENEY, Florida VACANCY VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:58 Feb 15, 2004 Jkt 085417 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 C:\WORKD\FULL03\030503\85417 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 C O N T E N T S March 5, 2003 Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Sherwood L. Boehlert, Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ........................................................ 8 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 9 Statement by Representative Ralph M. Hall, Minority Ranking Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ..................................... 10 Statement by Representative Nick Lampson, Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................................ 11 Prepared Statement by Representative Michael C. Burgess, Member, Com- mittee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................ 11 Prepared Statement by Representative Jerry F. Costello, Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ........................................................ 12 Witnesses Mr. David K. Garman, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renew- able Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 12 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 14 Dr. Alan C. Lloyd, 2003 Chairman for the California Fuel Cell Partnership Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 26 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 28 Biography .......................................................................................................... 35 Dr. Joan M. Ogden, Research Scientist, Princeton Environmental Institute Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 36 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 51 Biography .......................................................................................................... 72 Financial Disclosure ......................................................................................... 73 Dr. Lawrence D. Burns, Vice President, Research Development and Planning, General Motors Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 74 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 76 Biography .......................................................................................................... 93 Donald P.H. Huberts, Chief Executive Officer, Shell Hydrogen Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 93 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 95 Biography .......................................................................................................... 101 Discussion Industry’s Opinion on Government Policy Options ........................................... 102 DOE’s Opinions on Government Policy Options ................................................ 103 Sources of Funding for the Hydrogen Initiative ................................................ 104 Role of Partnerships in the Hydrogen Initiative ............................................... 104 Role of the Office of Science in the Hydrogen Initiative ................................... 105 Safety Concerns and Precautions for Hydrogen Usage .................................... 106 Cost of Hydrogen vs. Natural Gas Pipelines ..................................................... 107 Direction of Hydrogen Research Efforts ............................................................. 107 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:58 Feb 15, 2004 Jkt 085417 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\FULL03\030503\85417 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 IV Page Importance of Hybrids as an Intermediate Step to Fuel Cell Vehicles ........... 108 Potential Benchmarks for Hydrogen Vehicles and Fossil Fuel Engines ......... 109 Possibility of the Failure of a Hydrogen Economy and Potential Alternate Plans .................................................................................................................. 110 Sources of Funding and Cost Estimates ............................................................ 111 Abundance and Cost of Natural Gas .................................................................. 111 Written Statement of UTC Power (Submitted by Mr. Larson) ........................ 113 Best Use of Scarce Resources (Submitted by Mr. Akin) ................................... 115 Timetable for Conversion to Alternate Energy Sources .................................... 116 Necessity of Competition to Speed Development .............................................. 117 Development of Codes and Standards ................................................................ 118 Additional Cost of Carbon Sequestration ........................................................... 118 Ability to be Hydrogen Reliant by 2040 ............................................................. 119 Effect of Policy on the Research Agenda ............................................................ 121 Advice From the Panel as to What the Government Needs to Do to Further a Hydrogen Economy ........................................................................................ 122 Details of the Decision-making Process at the California Fuel Cell Partner- ship .................................................................................................................... 123 Re-allocation of Funds at DOE in Order to Account for the Hydrogen Initiative ............................................................................................................ 125 Timetable for Stationary vs. Vehicle Fuel Cell Usage ...................................... 125 Appendix 1: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Mr. David K. Garman, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renew- able Energy, U.S. Department of Energy ........................................................... 130 Dr. Alan C. Lloyd, 2003 Chairman for the California Fuel Cell Partnership .... 135 Dr. Joan M. Ogden, Research Scientist, Princeton Environmental Institute ..... 136 Dr. Lawrence D. Burns, Vice President, Research Development and Planning, General Motors ..................................................................................................... 139 Appendix 2: Additional Material for the Record Guidance for Transportation Technologies: Fuel Choice for Fuel Cell Vehicles .. 142 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:58 Feb 15, 2004 Jkt 085417 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\FULL03\030503\85417 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 THE PATH TO A HYDROGEN ECONOMY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2003 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to other business, at 10:30 a.m., in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Sher- wood L. Boehlert (Chairman of the Committee) presiding. (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000