Here's some rhetoric you may be able to get your arms around CRUFUS. JUST PROViDING YOU SOME FACTS
Obama Seeks to Cut Clean-Diesel,
Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Funding
Bloomberg
The Obama administration proposed ending a clean-diesel grant program and cutting research for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles while spurring the market for electric cars.
The US Environmental Protection Agency's fiscal 2012 budget reduces the Clean Diesel Program's budget from $80 million in 2010 to zero. The program was reauthorized by Congress for five years and a total of $500 million in December.
"It's clearly difficult budget times, but it's hard to imagine a program that delivers more concrete benefits at a lower cost than the diesel-emissions reduction program," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a trade group based in Frederick, Maryland.
President Barack Obama is working to realign the US government's vehicle-technology priorities. His budget proposes diverting funds from a dozen energy-company tax breaks to help put more electric vehicles on the road, doubling the share of electricity from so-called clean energy by 2035 and increasing the efficiency of energy use in buildings by 20 percent.
The budget proposal would transform a $7,500 tax credit for buyers of plug-in electric cars into a rebate at the dealership so purchasers wouldn't have to wait to claim the credit on tax returns. Obama, in his State of the Union address last month, reiterated his goal of having 1 million electric vehicles, both plug-in and hybrid electric, on US roads in four years.
An extension of the current clean-diesel spending plan was signed into law in January and pays local governments to retrofit buses, trucks and construction equipment.
The program has been giving out grants since 2005, benefiting makers of retrofit equipment, such as Corning Inc., and newer, cleaner engines and vehicles, like Cummins Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and Navistar International Corp.
Eliminating the funding was "truly unfortunate," said Dan Collins, a spokesman for Corning, which makes filters used to scrub diesel exhaust.
In addition to eliminating the diesel grants, the budget proposes allocating no money to a hydrogen fuel-cell program in the Energy Department that had $49 million in the 2010 fiscal year.
The George W. Bush administration called for $1.5 billion in funding over five years in the 2004 federal budget, divided between fuel-cell and hydrogen technologies. Department of Energy funding for the fuel-cell part of the equation peaked in 2006 at $84 million. Subsequent annual spending ranged from $45 million to $56 million.
A hydrogen fuel-cell industry trade group criticized Obama's cuts, saying it would be foolish to abandon government investment...
Honda, which doesn't have an electric car on the market, has leased FCX Clarity hydrogen cars to drivers in the Los Angeles area since 2008. Daimler AG started leasing fuel-cell Mercedes-Benz hatchbacks in California last year. Toyota plans to sell hydrogen cars in California, Japan and Germany by 2015.
Now it's election year and:
Obama’s 2012 Clean Energy Budget Announced, Hydrogen Cut President Obama has announced his 2012 energy budget and is investing more in clean and renewable energy technology than ever before. The proposed budget will also cut subsidies on oil, natural gas and coal to help meet the new goals. However, hydrogen technology has somehow also made its way to the chopping block. TAGS: 2012, announce, buget, Clean energy, CUT, Government, hydrogen, obama, Power, president, subsidies, technology Obama’s 2012 Clean Energy Budget Announced, Hydrogen Cu..
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1 14 Feb 2011 John Shimkus 0
inShare.President Obama has announced his 2012 energy budget and is investing more in clean and renewable energy technology than ever before. The proposed budget will also cut subsidies on oil, natural gas and coal to help meet the new goals. However, hydrogen technology has somehow also made its way to the chopping block.
The U.S. government is planning on providing the Department of Energy $29.5 billion for fiscal year 2012. $8 billion of this would be diverted toward clean energy research in wind, solar, and battery technologies. $853 million would be allocated for new nuclear technologies like small modular reactors.
The proposed budget calls for the repeal of $3.6 billion in subsidies for oil, natural gas and coal. This includes funding for research in the oil and gas arena, as well as… wait a minute… hydrogen?
While environmentalists will rejoice over this budget, and conservatives express their doubts over limiting oil and coal subsidies, the slashing of the hydrogen research budget may very well slip through the cracks in the debate. Yet, what most people don’t seem to realize—President Obama now being added to this list—is just how clean and renewable hydrogen energy is.
As I’ve stated in numerous articles, hydrogen is created from water… not just clean water or fresh water, any water will do. Salt water… no problem. Polluted water… piece of cake. By splitting the water molecules, you are left with hydrogen and chemically pure oxygen. The hydrogen can be pumped through fuel cells or burned for energy, with the only emissions being chemically pure water. So the only byproduct of hydrogen technology is chemically pure water and oxygen; and the government doesn’t think that this technology deserves further research? There’s something unsettling about lumping hydrogen—perhaps the cleanest of all renewable energies—in with coal and oil.
As a side note: In my dealings with energy entrepreneurs over the years, it is interesting to note that those making great strides in the hydrogen sector have cited its potential as the cheapest (some speculate even free) resource available once the proper infrastructure is in place. Could it be that the reason hydrogen has been so downplayed in recent years is because there is simply no profit in it? Could it be that an energy source with such infinite possibilities is being cast aside simply for monetary gain? It wouldn’t surprise me. Not one bit.
This is one political flip-flop scenario that could actually please some constituents.
The Obama Administration might reverse its policy of cutting support for hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle development (FCEV) in favor of battery-electric vehicles by putting more resources towards FCEV advancement, Slate reports.U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently spoke at a private event and supported expansion of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, Slate said, citing ex-Shell USA President John Hofmeister. The government's executive branch may be reversing course because of what's so far been lower-than-expected battery-electric vehicle sales in the U.S.
Some consider hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles a best-of-all-worlds solution to cutting both petroleum use and greenhouse-gas emissions because the vehicles can be filled up in minutes and can go almost as far on a full tank as gas-powered vehicles. Still, costs remain an issue because of the limited number of HCEVs and the challenges of hydrogen distribution to refueling stations. General Motors has estimated that it would cost as much as $25 billion to build out the 11,000 hydrogen fueling stations needed to support a "mature" FCEV fleet, Slate reported. Currently, there are only about 50 stations across the U.S., according to the Energy Department.
Last year, Pike Research estimated that automakers will sell about one million FCEVs by 2020, less than Pike Research's prior estimate of 2.8 million vehicles. Toyota, GM, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and Hyundai are among the automakers that have targeted 2015 for mass production of FCEVs.
