Jan 30 2003
In President Bush’s state of the nation address on Tuesday night, he announced the establishment of the FreedomFUEL initiative, designed to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.
He has pledged $1.2 billion to the development of commercially viable hydrogen powered fuel cells, which are suitable for powering cars, trucks, homes and businesses. One of the major advantages of hydrogen fuel is that it produces no greenhouse gas emissions.
FreedomFUEL will invest $720 million of new money over the next 5 years for the development of infrastructure and technology required for the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen fuels. The balance of the $1.2 billion will be re-directed from other programmes.
On top of FreedomFUEL, President Bush also wants to spend $500 million on the FreedomCAR project over the next five years. This project involves the 3 major car manufacturers and their suppliers. It is also aimed at developing automotive technologies, which include fuel cells.
For more information on fuel cells, click here.